


If Only...

by JamyPeraltiago



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-07-02 23:24:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 23
Words: 31,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15806658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamyPeraltiago/pseuds/JamyPeraltiago
Summary: A series of one-shots that re-imagine Jake and Amy getting together or already dating for each episode. Each chapter stands alone and exists in it's own universe.





	1. Pilot

“You look great.” Jake turned back around to search the storage facility for Ratko, missing Amy rolling her eyes and smirking quickly before putting her game face back on.

Jake stealthily tiptoed around the corners, looking for any sign of Ratko. Eventually, he came across a storage unit, the door open a few inches at the bottom, light creeping out from the open space. Jake grabbed the handle and slowly pulled the door up, doing his best not to make any noise. The door was fully open and Jake found himself face-to-face with a gun.

“Ratko.” Jake grimaced, taking a cautious step back. “Good to see you.”

“You can’t stop me,” Ratko threatened, still holding up his gun, turning and backing away into what he must have thought was his escape. “I’m going.”

Jake took a step towards Ratko, the softest of smiles spreading across his face. “Actually, you’re not going anywhere. Because, if you take a look to your left: you’ll find Detectives Boyle and Diaz. Right there is Detective Santiago. Behind you is Captain Holt.”

Jake’s grin grew wider as he watched Ratko realizing his defeat.

“My team has you surrounded.” Jake had an epiphany. He threw his hands up in the air and his head back, ashamed that it had taken him so long to figure it out. Between this and how long it took him to figure out that the Captain was gay, maybe he wasn’t as great of a detective as he boasted to be. He leaned over to peak behind Ratko at Captain Holt. “Captain, I just got the tie thing.”

“Now’s not the best time Detective,” Holt warned, closing in on Ratko.

“It’s a uniform,” Jake continued. “We’re a team and the tie is a part of that team’s uniform. Right?”

“Is Ratko a team?” Ratko asked, his gun now hanging by his side.

Jake couldn’t believe the stupidity of this guy. “No, Ratko, shut up.”

He turned back to Holt eager to continue his explanation. It was imperative that his new captain know that he understood the important lesson the squad was supposed to have learned. “It’s important to you because you were kept off the team for so long and now you’re the coach and you now you want us all to wear that same uniform. Boom! Nailed it!”

“Yes, you did. Now just arrest Ratko,” Captain Holt ordered.

Jake put his gun up and got back into police mode. “Alright Ratko, down. Drop the weapon. Hands on your head”

Ratko put the gun down and attempted a quick escape to his right, straight towards Amy. Jake didn’t even have time to be worried about his partner (not that he would be – she could hold her own) before Amy had pulled out her collapsible baton and struck Ratko in the knees.

“Hands behind your back. Hands behind your back,” Rosa shouted as she and Charles ran to Ratko, Charles taking out his handcuffs and clasping them around Ratko’s arms behind his back as he lay on his stomach.

Jake met Captain Holt in the intersection of the storage units, both holding their guns up as back up for Charles and Rosa until Ratko was securely handcuffed.

Jake huffed, grateful that he had finally arrested Ratko and put his gun away. “That’s how we do it in the Nine-Nine, sir. Catch bad guys and look good doing it.”

Jake stepped back, regretting it.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Captain Holt.

“Never took off the speedo,” Jake confessed. “Big mistake. It is inside me. Great work team!”

And with that he turned around to get back in the car, eager to head back to the Precinct.

…

After completing the paperwork on Ratko’s arrest, Jake arrived home, heading straight to his bedroom to take off his unbelievably uncomfortable speedo. Why he ever thought that wearing it under his jeans was a good idea, he’ll never know. He sighed in relief once the speedo was off and he was in more comfortable boxer briefs and a pair of gym shorts with just a t-shirt.

He headed to the kitchen and grabbed a beer. He opened it up and took a sip as he walked into the living room. He plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. Before he even settled in, there was a knock at his door.

Jake got back up and walked over to the door, opening it up to see Amy waiting in the hallway.

“Hey,” she said with a smile.

“Hey,” he replied, leaning down to kiss her. He smiled against her lips as she put her hands on his chest, pushing him into the apartment. He reached around her and slammed the door shut before cupping his hands on her face, allowing her to lead them to the couch. The back of his knees hit the couch and he fell into it, Amy falling on top of him, her legs straddling his lap.

Amy broke away from the kiss, moving her hands from his chest to around his neck. Jake moved his own hands down her side to her waist and around her lower back.

“Hi,” Amy said again, blushing.

“Hi,” said Jake, chuckling.

“So, that was kind of a close call today,” Amy said. “You almost gave it away that we’re together.”

Jake raised an eyebrow, confused about what she was referring to.

She looked at him, waiting for him to realize what she was talking about. When he still didn’t respond, she rolled her eyes and sighed. “You told me I looked great.”

“Well, that’s because you did,” Jake admitted, with a shrug. “You always do. You’re absolutely beautiful.”

Amy turned redder. “Jake,” she whispered, hitting his chest.

Jake smiled and cupped her face again, bringing her down for another kiss. He deepened the kiss, pushing his tongue against her soft lips, begging entrance. She opened her lips slightly, allowing his tongue entrance, humming gently. Jake’s skin tingled as he felt Amy’s fingertips grazing the skin above his pants as she pulled up his shirt. He broke away quickly, allowing her to pull his shirt up over his head. Once he was rid of the shirt, he leaned right back in to start kissing Amy again. However, Amy leaned back.

“Should we bring this into the bedroom?” she asked.

Jake nodded, unable to respond with words. He grabbed Amy around the waist and stood up, carrying her off to his bedroom.  


	2. The Tagger

_Buzz. Buzz._

“Jake, your phone,” Amy called out from the kitchen into the bedroom. She grabbed the coffeepot and filled up her to-go mug placing it on the counter next to her pocketbook.

_Buzz. Buzz._

“Jake, that’s your alarm. Wake up,” Amy yelled. She walked over to the outlet and unplugged her fully-charged phone, adding it and her keys to her pocketbook.

_Buzz. Buzz._ _Plop_

“Oh no,” Amy whispered to herself, running into the bedroom to find Jake’s department-issued phone in the toilet. She looked over to see Jake sitting up in his bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“You know, there are better ways to turn your alarm off,” Amy said, staring at Jake, unamused.

Jake turned, hanging his feet off the side of the bed and looked up at Amy, a sheepish grin splayed across his face. Amy laughed, not sure why she found his immature antics endearing. She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re lucky your cute,” she teased, pulling him up from the bed. Jake groaned as he stood up from the bed and stretched his arms up over his head.

“You’re cute, too,” Jake said, walking past Amy into the bathroom. He scooped his phone out of the toilet and pressed the button. Amy watched as he pressed it again harder, over and over again. “Shit.”

“Not turning on?” Amy asked, already knowing the answer.

Jake nodded and sighed as he walked back over to Amy.

“Good luck telling Captain Holt about that,” Amy said.

“Thanks,” Jake sighed again, gently grabbing Amy’s waist and pulling her towards him. Amy wrapped her arms around his waist, enjoying the sweet moment.

“I have to get to work. _We_ have to get to work,” Amy finally said, dreading leaving Jake’s strong arms.

“I’m going to be late,” Jake said, gripping Amy tighter.

“Yup,” Amy replied, unsurprised by his answer. She pulled away a little bit from Jake, knowing that if she didn’t, she’d probably end up being just as late as him.

Jake released Amy and looked down at her. The look he gave her made her knees weak.

“See you at work,” he said, kissing the top of her head and patting her shoulder.

“See ya,” Amy replied as she headed out the door, smiling, her knees feeling unstable.

…

Amy stood on her tip toes on the step ladder, reaching way up into the top of the hall closet. “Why do you need my tent?”

“I’m going to sleep in it in the briefing room,” Jake responded, as if that was a reasonable explanation.

Amy grabbed the tent and threw it down to Jake before stepping down from the ladder. She folded the ladder back up and placed it in the side of the closet, turning to look at Jake. “But, why?”

“So, I’m not late tomorrow.” Jake turned around and walked down the hallway into Amy’s living room. She followed behind him.

“You could just go to work with me in the morning. I’m always early.”

Jake placed the tent down on the floor next to his backpack and took a seat on the couch, looking up at Amy. “If I show up early, especially if I show up as early as you, it’s going to look suspicious.”

Amy sat down next to Jake, tucking her feet under her legs and running her fingers through Jake’s soft hair. She was still confused by his logic. “So, if you show up to work early, or even close to on time, people will figure out that we’re together?”

Jake nodded and smirked. “How else would I be responsible if I wasn’t dating someone responsible?”

Amy crinkled her nose in mock disgust. “How are we together?”

Jake laughed and kissed her. Amy flung her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer to her. After several blissful minutes, Jake pulled away.

“I need to go now,” he said, not making any effort to get up.

Amy shook her head and pulled him closer to her again, her arms still around his neck. “Stay.”

“I can’t,” Jake responded, lowering his voice. “I need to go so I can sleep at the precinct, so that I can be on time for work tomorrow.”

“Stay,” Amy repeated.

“But, work,” Jake whispered.

Amy pulled Jake even closer. She cradled the back of his neck with one hand while the other traveled slowly down his chest, down his stomach, to his waist, where she slowly started to unzip his jeans. She whispered into his ear, “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Okay,” Jake moaned.

Amy smiled, pleased with the effect she had on him. Her hand traveled down into his pants and she stroked him over his boxers. She kissed his neck, gently biting him, hoping to leave a small mark. She leaned back and Jake gently pushed her so that she was lying on the couch.

Amy reached up for Jake but he stood up, shoving his pants and boxers off in one swift move. She quickly unzipped her own pants and pulled them and her underwear off, throwing them down onto the floor beside Jake. He stepped out of his pants and boxers, leaving them lying on the floor next to her discarded clothes. He climbed back onto the couch, hovering over Amy. She stroked his penis a few times before she slowly guided it into her.

Jake paused once he was inside her. She looked up at his sweet face and cupped his face, savoring the moment. Jake thrust gently and she moved her hand down his face, down his neck, over his shoulder, and underneath his arm to his back, pulling him in closer to her. Jake increased his thrusts. She moved with him, quickly finding a good rhythm. Jake groaned and she knew that he was close. She arched her back, allowing Jake into her deeper, eager to come with him. She yelled out as her orgasm overcame her. She grasped at Jake’s back as he grunted as he too, came.

Her chest heaving, Amy relaxed into the couch, Jake falling on top of her. They laid there for a while, breathing deeply, in sync, each trying to catch their breath. 

“Aren’t you glad you stayed?” Amy panted, running her hand up and down Jake’s back.

“Mhm,” Jake groaned into her neck.

After several more minutes, Jake finally got up. He grabbed his boxers and pulled them on. “I should still go.”

Amy sat up and grabbed her underwear. “You’re still going to sleep at the Precinct?" she asked, standing up and pulling on her underwear.

Jake turned to Amy and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes. “I need to be responsible.”

Amy rolled her eyes and shrugged his hands off of her. “Well, I hate that you’re going, but, I do find your attempt at responsibility sexy…”

Jake laughed as he grabbed his jeans, pulling them back on. “Well then, you can show me how turned on you are tomorrow night, after you’ve seen me be responsible.”

He kissed her one last time and grabbed the tent and his backpack, heading out the door.

“Byeeee,” he yelled out, closing the door behind him.

Amy shook her head and laughed to herself as she grabbed her pants and headed to her room for the night.


	3. The Slump

“Fine. After, I do Rosa’s Montreal sex thing – that sounds fun!” Jake exclaimed as he stormed out of the break room, away from his coworkers who were helping him brainstorm strategies for getting out of his apparent slump.

Amy watched him leave, worried about him. In the three years that she had worked with him, she had seen him struggle with cases, but she’d never seen him in a slump like this. Not only was he unable to solve any cases, but he was making quite a few careless mistakes. She knew that if he just took a moment to clear his head, he’d be able to solve these cases.

She followed him out to the bullpen and back to her seat.

“You’re not really going to do Rosa’s sex thing, are you?” she asked, leaning across the desk, lowering her voice so no one else would hear her.

Jake shrugged his shoulders, not looking up from his files. “Probably not.”

Amy didn’t say anything but continued to look at Jake. She couldn’t explain why, but she had this deep desire for him to not actually follow through on Rosa’s suggestion – fly to Montreal, go to a bar, bone a stranger. She just wanted him to get through this slump on his own, certainly not by sleeping with a random stranger.

Jake looked up and Amy quickly looked away from him. “What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Amy responded, shaking her head and biting her lower lip.

Amy felt Jake’s eyes still on her. She looked up to see Jake looking at her, one eyebrow raised. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Rosa.

“Hey Ames, the kids for the Junior Police program are here,” Rosa called out across the bullpen.

Amy got up and started walking to the briefing room where the kids were gathering. She turned back around and walked to Jake’s side of the desk. “Just, promise me you won’t sleep with someone to get out of this slump,” she said, not really sure why she had felt the urge to ask this of Jake.

Without waiting for him to respond, she turned back around and joined Rosa in the briefing room.

…

“So, I heard you solved a case. You beat the slump!” Amy said to Jake as they left the building and walked to their cars after the long day. She held up her hand, offering a high-five in celebration. Jake reciprocated, slapping his hand against hers, causing her heart to skip a beat at his touch.

“How’d you do it?” she asked, putting the confusion she was currently feeling about her heart skipping a beat over Jake’s touch out of her mind.

“Holt made me do some thoughtless busy work which helped me to clear my mind. It was kind of like my mind reset. Once I had a clear mind, I was able to refocus on my cases. Everything, just sort of, came to me,” he explained.

“I knew that was all you needed to do,” Amy replied. Amy looked up at Jake and saw that he was looking down at her with a confused expression on his face.

“And yet, all you did was ask me not to have sex with a stranger,” he said, sounding cocky, yet sweetly amused.

Amy started walking faster towards her car, ignoring Jake’s comment. She was not in the mood to deal with his teasing right now.

“Ames,” he said quietly, catching up to her. She sped up her pace, walking even faster. “Why were you so adamant about me not sleeping with a stranger?”

Amy continued to walk to her car, not wanting to answer Jake. Her heart skipped another beat at the feeling of Jake’s hand gently grabbing her shoulder. She gave in to his kind pull, forcing her to turn and face him. She looked up and saw a tender look upon his face. He wasn’t smirking or looking smug. Rather, he looked kind and genuinely intrigued about her behavior towards him today.

Amy looked back up at Jake, not saying anything. How could she tell Jake that she was feeling jealous when she wasn’t even sure why? It wasn’t like she liked Jake as anything more than a friend. Or at least, she didn’t think she did.

But, as he stood her in front of her, looking cute and kind, she was reminded of his good qualities - his compassion for others, especially his friends.

“Ames,” Jake whispered, grabbing her waist and pulling her into him. He placed his lips on hers, kissing her unlike anyone had ever kissed her before. She responded, kissing back with more passion than she had ever felt kissing anyone else.

Jake broke off the kiss and looked down at Amy. He was grinning wide, looking goofy. She smiled back.

So, maybe she did have feelings for him.

“I guess I was just jealous,” Amy confessed. “Jealous of the hypothetical person who was going to help you get over your slump. Jealous that that person wasn’t going to be me.”

Jake smirked, looking a little too pleased with himself.

“What?” Amy sighed. She did not like how proud he was looking right now.

“You like me,” he teased.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Don’t let this go to your head,” she playfully warned. 

Jake grinned wide and nodded enthusiastically, leaning back down to kiss Amy. She smiled against his lips, excitedly kissing him back.


	4. M.E. Time

“Hey, can I ask you guys something?” Jake asked to Rosa and Amy, standing up from his chair and walking over to Amy’s side of the desk. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Do you know anything about my life?” Rosa asked, a hand on her hip.

“No, I do not. Good point,” Jake replied. “So, you know the new medical examiner? Kinda had sex with her last night.”

Jake paused, looking at Rosa and Amy’s surprised faces.

“What?” Amy asked, shocked.

Jake turned to look directly at Amy. “Oh. Sorry. Forgot who I was talking to. Sex is something two adults do with their bodies when they’re attracted to each other,” Jake joked.

“That’s right Santiago. Do you not know that?” Rosa added, seriously, seemingly convinced by Jake’s comment that Amy didn’t know what sex was.

Amy rolled her eyes, looking aggravated with Jake. “I meant, what were you thinking? Weren’t you supposed to be doing an autopsy for your primary – Charles?”

Jake hated it when Amy was so self-righteous and judgmental. He folded his arms. “The guy died of natural causes. What’s the big deal?”

He turned to Rosa, knowing she would be understanding and not at all judgmental about what he was about to confess to his coworkers.

“Anyway, so, back to last night. As you can imagine, I’m normally open to pretty much anything in the bedroom. But I can’t tell if what happened last night was weird, or sexy.” Jake went on to describe, in detail, how the medical examiner rubbed an ice cube all over his lips and told him she liked cold lips.

“I don’t think that’s weird,” Rosa said.

Jake was a little surprised by her response. “Cold? Like a dead guy?” he suggested, stating where his thoughts had gone.

Amy shrugged. “You’re reading into that.”

Jake raised his eyebrows. “Am I?” He then recounted how the medical examiner proceeded to talk about putting her hands inside his body, touching his organs.

Amy put her hands up in disgust. “Ew!” she exclaimed. “Please tell me you ran out of there.”

Jake was ashamed of himself. He really was. “No.” He looked down, his eyes shifting in embarrassment. “For some reason, I started getting into it.”

He confessed to how he then pretended to be a corpse and how the medical examiner was really into it. He confessed that he still had sex with her.

“Stop!” Amy closed her eyes and put her fingers in her ears, clearly unable to hear anymore about Jake’s creepy hook-up. “Stop, stop. Weird, weird, weird.”

Jake looked to Rosa for her opinion. “Rosa, what’s your take? Weird or sexy?”

“Weird,” she stated, matter-of-factly.

“Ahh, knew it.” Jake turned away from the detectives. For a moment, he tried to see the positive side. “But, also kinda sexy?” he asked, somewhat hopeful, though pretty sure of the correct answer to the question.

“No, weird. But, more importantly, that’s what you were doing while Charles was grinding through paperwork?” Rosa scolded.

“Told you. Worst secondary in the unit,” Amy added, arrogantly.

Jake was tired of his coworkers getting on his case. “What do you guys want from me? I take over a case, I’m a bad secondary. I blow off work to have sex with a hot coroner, I’m a bad secondary. I can’t win!”

“What are you guys talking about?” Charles asked, arriving out of nowhere.

Jake immediately felt bad. He had been a bad secondary and then he had inhibited his best friend from getting his job done. “Uh, just weird sex stuff. It has nothing to do with work,” Jake said, not wanting to tell the truth, but also not wanting to confess to Charles his mistake.

“Ahh! I had sex on a futon. And, it was in couch mode,” Charles stated and then walked away, leaving Jake, Rosa, and Amy confused.

…

“You slept with her again!?” Amy asked, dropping a folder onto the table in the breakroom where Jake was finishing up paperwork, causing him to jump up, surprised.

Jake looked up at Amy and grimaced, ashamed of his actions. She rolled her eyes as she took the seat across from him.

“Why?” she asked.

Jake shrugged. “She was hot?” he answered, though, still questioning his actions.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I know,” Jake responded, grinning.

“That wasn’t a compliment,” Amy criticized, though a small smile was involuntarily spreading across her face.

Jake frowned. “I know.”

He stared at Amy across the table. Looking at Amy’s sweet face made him feel bad about his actions. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked, looking confused.

“My behavior. For calling you while you were on a date and being obnoxious. For teasing you about sex. For oversharing about my sex life,” Jake confessed.

“Oh, that.” Amy waved her hand, shaking off Jake’s admission of guilt. “Don’t worry about it.”

Jake looked around, making sure they really were alone and out of earshot. He lowered his voice and asked, “Does it bother you?”

“Does what bother me?” Amy questioned quietly, matching Jake’s volume.

“That I’m sleeping with other people? Or, that I share with you when I sleep with other people? I mean, we’ve slept together a few times, but we agreed it wasn’t anything serious.”

Amy nodded, understanding now what Jake was referring to. “Right. We’re not exclusive. Obviously, I’m seeing other people too – you saw me on that date the other night.”

Remembering seeing Amy on the date made Jake feel nauseous. He didn’t know about Amy, but, it certainly bothered him to see her with someone else. They had slept together a few times but had agreed that it meant nothing. Or, rather, Amy had stated that it meant nothing, and Jake had gone along with it. At first, he had gone along with it because it hadn’t meant anything. Yes, he was attracted to Amy, but he hadn’t wanted to be in a serious relationship. Now, however, he continued agreeing to these terms because he was afraid the sex would end if he admitted he wanted more than just sex or to be exclusive. Perhaps, the attempts to ruin her dates and oversharing about his own sex life was a selfish attempt to force her to reevaluate their relationship. Perhaps, he was acting out of jealousy and immaturity.

“Right, right,” Jake said. “Well, just your reaction today, about the sex with the medical examiner…”

Amy scrunched up her face, looking disgusted. “That was weird and gross Jake. You can do better than that.”

“So, you weren’t jealous…?” Jake asked, a small part of him hoping that she would say yes, she had been jealous.

Amy paused before she responded. He watched, optimistically, waiting for her to admit her jealousy. He watched her take a deep breath.

“I…” she started to say, but then stopped herself, shaking her head. She looked Jake in the eyes. “Nope, not jealous, just grossed out.”

Jake raised his eyebrows, feeling disappointed and skeptical about her response. He really thought she was going to admit to being jealous.

“We cool?” he asked. 

“We’re cool.” Amy smiled. “You want to come over tonight?”

Jake licked the corner of his lips and nodded. “Yeah. I just got to finish up this paperwork for Charles. Meet you there?”

“Great, see you soon,” Amy said as she stood up and walked away.

Jake watched her go, enjoying the view.    


	5. The Vulture

The squad left the briefing room where Jake had just informed everyone on a murder he was working on. Captain Holt had reprimanded Jake for taking too long to solve the case and for not using resources or the squad to help him.

This was usual for Jake. In the three years she had worked with Jake, Amy had never known him to want to work with anyone. He preferred to work alone, which was often his downfall. 

Amy and Rosa approached Jake, offering to help him out with his case. When he refused, they reminded him that Captain Holt told him to use the whole team.

“I appreciate the offer, but I work best alone.” He looked at Amy and added, “Except when it comes to sex.” He paused for a moment, contemplating what he had just said. “Actually, sometimes including sex.”

Amy was unimpressed with his comment. She crossed her arms and shook her head. “Will you just let us help?’

“Okay, fine. I will let one of you help me. Charles.”

Amy was not surprised by Jake’s choice of partner. Charles loved Jake. Charles would never do anything to get in Jake’s way of solving a case alone. Jake explained that he was picking Charles because he would not steal his thunder. Charles confirmed that he would never do that to Jake. Amy rolled her eyes, worrying that Jake’s ego was going to cost him this case.

…

Only a few hours later, Amy’s suspicions were confirmed when the Vulture showed up at the precinct demanding Jake’s case.

The Vulture, or Detective Penbrooke, worked for the Major Crimes unit. The 99 called him the Vulture because of his tendency to swoop in and steal their cases, much like a vulture swoops in and steals the last remains of dead animals from their initial prey. What made the Vulture even worse, was that he swooped in when the case was almost solved, taking credit when the squad had done the majority of the work. He was a disgusting man and Amy was absolutely repulsed by him.

“Santiago, you foxy ma,” the vulture said as Amy walked past him.

She faked a smile as she responded, “Go rot in Hell.”

Amy turned to Jake and added, “This is your fault.”    

…

“Uh…I hate the Vulture so much,” Jake groaned. The squad was seated at a table at their favorite bar, Shaw’s. Charles had suggested drowning their sorrows in drinks after the Vulture stole their case and everyone agreed. They ordered a pitcher of beer and drank as they vented.

“Me too,” Rosa concurred. “But, he is kinda hot.”

Everyone stared at Rosa, shocked by her declaration.

“What?” she asked. “You can hate people and still think they’re hot. Case in point: Manuel Noriega.”

Amy was horrified by what Rosa had said, but Jake nodded in agreement. “You know what? I’m with you on this. Tonya Harding.”

“Yeah, she’s thick,” Rosa agreed.

“Right,” Jake nodded enthusiastically, glad someone understood and agreed with him.

Amy didn’t know why, but it kind of bothered her when he said that. “Always classy, Jake.”

“Mhm,” he hummed.

The squad shared stories about times when they had been vultured and Jake continued to vent.

Jake offered to buy more drinks as everyone brainstormed ways to get revenge on the Vulture. After too many more rounds, it was decided that they would saran wrap the Vulture’s motorcycle and melt it with a hair dryer.

“Let’s melt this thing,” Jake said as Charles finished wrapping the saran wrap around the motorcycle. He turned to Amy and said, “Alright, give me your hair dryer.”

Amy was confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you carry one in your purse?” Jake asked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Have you ever met a human woman?” Amy retorted.

Jake called Gina to ask her to come meet with them. He was stunned when he was greeted by Captain Holt on the phone.

“Look, I understand you’re upset. But, if you want to keep this from happening again, I suggest that you pull your team together and solve these cases before Major Crimes can step in. Am I clear?”

Jake hung up the phone and turned around, smiling. Amy was confused, the Captain had just told Jake off, why was he looking so happy?

“You should be frowning. Why is Jake smiling? Why are you smiling?”

“Because the Captain just gave us the perfect revenge plan. We team up and solve this case. Right now.”

Amy was not surprised that Jake had twisted the Captain’s words to mean what he wanted to hear.

“That is not what he meant,” Amy argued, trying to talk Jake out of what was undoubtedly a terrible plan.

“Think about it, Amy,” Jake argued. “We go back to the scene of the crime, find the murder weapon and out-vulture the Vulture. No one gets in trouble if we crack the case.”

Amy stared at Jake. Maybe it was the alcohol in her (okay, not maybe, it definitely was the alcohol in her) but, Jake was making sense. This wasn’t such a terrible plan.

“Okay, Screw it. I’m in,” she conceded. 

“Yes, that’s right!” Jake shouted.

…

Amy sat next to Jake on the bus as he filled her in on the case. They were sitting extremely close, their arms grazing against each other. Maybe it was because she was a little tipsy, but she found that she didn’t completely hate the closeness. In fact, she found that she actually enjoyed it.

“So, the waitress heard the couple arguing at dinner. Apparently, he was having an affair, and it was not the first time. Two years ago, she caught him with the dog walker, who was walking his dog, if you know what I mean.”

“I do, yes.” Amy nodded, understanding, though unfazed by Jake’s effort at double entendre.

“Right?”

“I got it,” Amy stated, encouraging Jake to continue.

“Sex times. Anyways, we know it’s the wife.”

Amy looked at Jake. All day the squad had been trying to support him and he had ignored their help. She wasn’t really surprised by this, Jake always preferred to work on his own, no matter what. “You’re real talkative now that you want our help.”

He sighed and nodded. “Alright, it is possible that I should have brought you guys in sooner. But I just get so excited and wrapped up in wanting to solve stuff.

“I get it, you want to be the best. We all do. You just don’t have to be such a butthead about it.”

Jake stared at Amy.

“What?” she asked, confused as to why he was staring at her so intently.

“I can’t believe you called me a butthead,” he responded, looking so serious.

Amy laughed. “Shut up.”

“So harsh,” he teased.

…

The squad arrived at the victim’s apartment. Jake explained to everyone what he knew so far – about how the victim had been stabbed, presumedly by his wife, with a corkscrew, though they had been able to retrieve the alleged murder weapon. They ran through possible scenarios, acting out how the murder possibly went down. Jake clarified why several scenarios couldn’t be possible based on evidence and testimonies they had already collected.

“Okay, I want in,” Amy announced, stepping up to act out her theory. She pointed to Jake. “But, I only want to stab you.”

Jake threw his hands up. “Fine. Charles, door,” he added, ordering Charles to take up the role of the door once again.

She got into position, standing where they believed the wife had stood when she murdered their husband, Jake taking the spot of the dead husband.   

Jake pinched the bridge of his nose and cleared his throat. “Okay, uhh…” he said, starting to get into character. He gestured to Amy “Sweetheart…”

“Time to die,” Amy stated, not wanting to play Jake’s game.

“Seems a little harsh,” Jake quietly interjected.

Amy turned around, stopping as realization began to set in. Directly behind her was the refrigerator – the _magnetic_ refrigerator. “What if it was a magnetic corkscrew?”

There was silence as everyone thought about what Amy had just said.

She turned back around to look at Jake. “The corkscrew was on a magnet…”

“…It’s stuck half down the trash chute,” Jake exclaimed, excitedly. “I figured it out first!”

He took off running out of the apartment, Amy right on his heels, her competitive nature taking over.

She pulled out a flashlight from her bag as they reached the chute.

“You have a ten-pound flashlight in your purse but not a hairdryer?” Jake asked in astonishment, as he opened up the chute.

Amy ignored him, pushing in front of him to get a good look down the chute. The flashlight lit up part of the trash chute, but she didn’t see anything. She stood back up.

“I can’t see far enough down,” she said, frustrated. They were so close to solving this case. She wasn’t ready to give up.

“We’ll have to go down in there. Someone with narrow shoulders,” Jake suggested.

Amy nodded in agreement as they both turned around, looking directly at Charles.

“NO,” he protested. “I have broad shoulders. I have narrow hips but broad shoulders.”

Everyone looked down at Charles waist, confirming his statement.

“God!”

Charles grabbed the flashlight from Amy and leaned into the chute. Jake and Amy each held up a leg, allowing him to lower himself further down into the chute.

“See anything,” Jake asked.

“A little lower,” Charles ordered.

“Freeze,” a voice came from behind them. “Hands in the air.”

Amy dropped Charles’ leg and spun around, lifting her hands over her head. Her stomach dropped at the sight of beat cops holding their guns up at them. Amy Santiago did not get in trouble, ever. But right now, she knew she was in big trouble.

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge. “We’re cops,” he explained.

…

They had been caught and the Vulture was furious, running off to report the squad to Captain Holt. While the Vulture complained about the squad to their captain, Jake and Charles revealed that Amy’s hunch was right – the corkscrew had been stuck to the side on the chute. Even better, Charles had managed to grab the murder weapon.

Amy didn’t get to claim the victory of solving the case, though. To appease the Vulture, Jake allowed him to take credit for solving the murder and finding the weapon. Amy was astonished by his behavior. Never, in all her years of knowing Jake, had she known him to give up the bragging rights on a case (or the bragging rights for anything, for that matter). She was surprised once again, moments later, when Jake took sole responsibility for the actions of the squad that evening. Amy hated to admit it, but she admired Jake’s actions. For a man who was so predictable, she was pleased by how much his behavior had surprised him as he took responsibility for his actions, something he had certainly never done before.

“That was very mature of you, the way you acted tonight,” Amy said to Jake as they entered the elevator, leaving the precinct for the night.

“Thanks.”

They stood there in silence. Amy looked at Jake, who was staring fixedly at the doors of the elevator. The conversation they had had at the bar replayed in her head – how you can hate someone and still find them attractive. Sometimes, Amy really disliked Jake. He was arrogant, self-absorbed, and immature. Yet, sometimes, he did something and surprised her. Like tonight. Tonight, he had taken responsibility for his actions like a mature adult. And as she stared at him, she couldn’t help but find him attractive.   

The elevator doors opened up and they exited, making their way out of the precinct.

“I think I’m still a little too drunk to drive,” Jake announced.

Amy turned to look at him. He was looking back at her, biting his lower lip, one eyebrow raised.

Amy nodded. “Yeah. Me too. Bus?”

Jake nodded, and they walked the block and a half to the bus stop. They waited, not saying anything. When the bus arrived, Amy followed Jake on board, following him to the back, taking the seat next to him. Once again, she noticed how close they were sitting to one another. She was a little more sober than she had been a few hours ago, but she realized that she was still enjoying sitting so close to Jake, their arms touching.

Amy yawned, feeling exhausted after the long day. Without thinking about what she was doing, she rested her head on Jake’s shoulder. Jake cleared his throat. Amy thought he was trying to communicate that he was uncomfortable. She was about the lift her head back up when Jake rested his own head on top of hers.

They stayed like that for a while. Amy looked out the window, watching as the bus sped past building after building. Soon, they approached Amy’s stop. She lifted her head up and stood up.

“This is me,” she said.

Jake nodded. Amy waited for him to say something else, but he didn’t, so she made her way off the bus.

“Ames, wait.”

Amy turned around and saw Jake stand up and walk towards her. “Let me walk you home.”

As they walked to Amy’s apartment, she wondered what was happening. What was that on the bus? Why was Jake walking her home? Why hadn’t she objected to it?

“Well, this is me,” Amy said when they reached her building.

“Alright,” Jake said.

Amy looked at Jake, not sure what to do. Should she invite him in or just say good night?

She stood standing quietly for too long, and Jake made the decision for her. “Well, good night.”

“Night,” Amy responded. She turned to open the door as he walked away, but then she stopped. She took a deep breath and turned back around, calling out, “Jake!”

Jake turned around quickly. “Yeah,” he responded, walking back to the building, standing in front of Amy, looking down at her as he waited for her to speak.

She took another deep breath, gaining the courage to ask him something that had been bothering her all day. “Why did you feel the need to tell me you didn’t work best alone during sex?”

Jake laughed. “Sometimes I do work better alone when it comes to sex,” he joked.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Jake…”

Jake stopped laughing and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess, I just had this urge to let you know that I’m good at sex. I’m sorry.”

During this moment, when Jake was confessing to his immaturity, a trait Amy detested about him, he still managed to be charming, almost redeeming his appalling behavior.

“Jake…” Amy repeated. She paused before throwing caution to the wind and acting without any inhibition. She leaned forward and kissed Jake on the mouth. It was just a quick peck on the lips, but it still felt reckless and unlike her to do something like that.

She leaned back and looked at Jake, his mouth wide open in bewilderment. She immediately regretted her actions.

“Sorry,” she apologized. “I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry.”

Jake closed his mouth and smiled. “Don’t apologize.”

He leaned forward and kissed Amy, cupping her face in his hands. Her hands grabbed at his waist and then she slid her hands up his back to his neck, inching her hands through his hair.

Jake pulled away, still holding her face. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Amy smiled seductively. “So, do you want to come inside and prove to me that sex is something you don’t do better alone?”


	6. Halloween

Jake fell back onto the pillow, panting heavily as he tried to regain his breath. He looked to his right and saw Amy panting too, looking just as exhausted as he felt.

“That was amazing,” Jake said through heavy gasps.

“’That was Amazing:’ a much more accurate title of my sex tape,” Amy said. She turned to her side and lifted her head up leaning it on her hand. She glared down at Jake.

He gulped, knowing that he was in trouble with his girlfriend. All day long, every time she said something that could be interpreted as negative, sexually, he, jokingly, had announced to the squad that that was the title of her sex tape. At the end of the day, the names of her sex tapes were: “Kind, Sober and Fully Dressed,” “I’m Sorry About Tonight,” and “It’s Not Your Fault. I was Terrible.”

Obviously, he knew that these titles were inaccurate. They’d been dating for about six months now, and he had plenty of evidence proving that she was great at sex. The sex they were having was life-changing, mind-blowing, earth-shattering, amazing. (He also knew, that the title of her sex tape most certainly wasn’t “Kind, Sober, and Fully Dressed,” as the first time they slept together, it was far from those three things).

They were trying to keep their relationship a secret and, while joking about Amy being bad at sex was a great tactic to deceive the rest of the squad, it maybe wasn’t the nicest way to treat his girlfriend.

He lifted his head so that their faces were even, and he could look her straight in the eyes. He smiled sheepishly. “I love you,” he said, trying to be cute.

“Mhm,” she hummed, unimpressed. “So, should I be ‘sorry about tonight?’ Was it that bad?”

Jake furiously shook his head. “Absolutely not. It was amazing. Spectacular. If it was terrible, it was my fault,” Jake groveled.

Amy laughed and teasingly shoved his chest away from her. “Jake…”

He rolled his eyes and sighed. “You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

“Yup,” Amy giggled, cupping his face and pulling him in for a kiss. She turned onto her back, pulling Jake down with her. He caressed her, stroking his hand up and down her side as he kissed her. She pulled at his hair, turning him on.      

“Up for another round?” Jake gasped, breaking free for a moment.

“’Up for Another Round:’ title of your sex tape” Amy raised her eyebrows.

Jake’s mouth opened wide in shock and he nodded, unable to form words. He was so proud of Amy. And, so turned on. Clearly, they were a perfect match. 


	7. 48 Hours

Amy walked into the briefing room in a hurry. She was wearing a form-fitting pink dress that hugged her in all the right places, and she was feeling good.

“Whoa, Detective Santiago,” Sergeant Jeffords exclaimed. 

Amy was proud of the reaction she had elicited from her coworker. “Big date tonight,” she announced, turning slightly to show of her outfit to the rest of the squad. “How do I look?”

Jake picked up his phone, pressing a button as he said, “Well, I think you look…”

Amy rolled her eyes as donkey noises came from the speakers.

“Sorry, the was supposed to be a cat call. I don’t know how this works,” Jake defended.

Amy laughed at his stupidity.

Her laughter didn’t last long though when Captain Holt revealed that Jake had made an arrest without having sufficient evidence (or any evidence, for that matter). Now, the squad was being forced to work the case, trying to solve it in the 48 hours they legally had to hold the suspect. Amy was pissed at Jake. She was missing her big date, and it was 100 percent Jake’s fault.

Over the next 48 hours, Amy planned to make Jake know exactly how angry she was with him for ruining her date. She hadn’t even bothered trying to reschedule it. She had little faith that Jake was going to solve the course in the first 24 hours.

However, Jake had made a breakthrough and told Amy to reschedule her date. She excitedly ran off to change back into her dress.

She shouldn’t have been surprised when the breakthrough did not lead to a proper arrest. She was furious that she had to call her date back and cancel, yet again.

…

Jake and Amy sat in the briefing room, eating pies, surrounded by boxes of paperwork, trying anything and everything to find evidence that the guy Jake arrested actually committed the crime.

“So, how did my new best friend Luke take it when you canceled on him again?” Jake asked.

Amy shrugged. “Don’t know. He hasn’t called me back.” She began to rant, “Which is what always happens because it’s impossible to be a cop and date.”

“Amy, look, there is a guy out there, with incredibly low standards and a super-weird soul patch, and he is waiting for you.”

Jake pulled the picture of the guy he had just described from the printer. It was the guy who was shown in the security camera video of the jewelry store that had been robes, the guy who probably committed the crime Jake was trying to solve. He held the picture up to his face and put on a fake accent as he said, “Amy, my patch tingles for you.”

Amy laughed and stroked the face as Jake continued, “We will wed on the Isle of New Jersey. Our first dance will be to _Jesse’s Girl_ , because my name is definitely Jesse.”

“It’s so romantic,” Amy joked.

The fun ended though as they were interrupted by Scully, who delivered the bad news that the suspect’s alibi had held up, confirming that Jake had just ruined everyone’s weekend with his over eagerness and cockiness.

…

“Ok, what can I do?” Amy asked Jake as he cleaned up the boxes from around the precinct.

“Your services will not be needed, because you need to go home and change for your date,” he informed her.

Amy gave Jake a weird look. She didn’t have a date. Thanks to him she had had to cancel her date, not once, but twice. There was no way Luke would have agreed a third time to a date with her. “What?” she asked.

“I called handsome Luke,” Jake said. “I explained that the weekend was entirely my fault, partially.”

“And he wants to go out with me?” Amy asked, shocked that Jake had done something so nice for her.

“Well…no,” Jake said. “But, I feel so terrible about this, so I’m going to take you on a date.”

“You’re taking me on a date?” Amy asked, confused as to what Jake was suggesting.

“Yes,” Jake clarified.

“But, why?” Amy was so confused.

“Because, you were so excited about the date and I feel just awful that it didn’t happen.”

Amy was shocked. She never thought of Jake as being the kind of guy who felt guilt or responsibility for his actions. Jake had tried to get her date back on. And, when he failed, he offered to take her out himself because he didn’t want to see her upset over another failed date.

Jake continued. “You’re right. Being a cop and trying to date is hard. So, who better to go on a date with than another cop who knows exactly what you’re going through?”

Amy was at a loss of words. She smiled at Jake, touched by his kindness. “Thanks,” she whispered. 

Jake smiled. “By the way, I know we won’t be needing it tonight, but you should throw away that condom that’s in your bag before your next date. It’s expired.”

Amy huffed in exasperation. “How do you know what’s in my bag?”

“I needed concealer for a zit,” Jake responded, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Amy shook her head, annoyed at Jake’s invasion of her personal space.

“Plus, you know, we spend so much time together here, I know everything about everyone.” Jake elaborated, “I know Hitchcock went bald at 15. Scully used to date Hitchcock’s wife. Charles has a bike with a little basket on the front. And, Rosa has a shower in her apartment. I think. I got nothing on her.”

Amy conceded. “Well, I guess we did just spend 48 hours locked in here together.”

Jake nodded in agreement, and then paused suddenly, realization dawning on his face. “Holy crap.”

“What?” Amy asked, not sure what was going on.

“Locked in here together,” Jake repeated her words as he ran towards Captain Holt’s office. He turned back towards her as he kept running, calling out, “Date. Tonight. I’ll be at your place in 2 hours.”

…

Once she arrived home, Amy realized how exhausted spending the weekend at the precinct had caused her to be. After changing out of her dress and showering, she found she had no energy to get dressed back up again for a date. She threw on sweatpants and a large sweater before collapsing on her bed.

A little over an hour later, she was startled awake by knocking at the door.

“Ames,” Jake called.

Amy sat up and rubbed her eyes, slowly getting out of bed.

“Jake,” she mumbled while making her way to the front door. “I’m too tired for a date.”

Amy opened the front door. There Jake stood, sporting sweats and a t-shirt underneath his signature hoodie and leather jacket, a case of cheap beer in one hand and a box of pizza in the other.

“I figured,” he said, smiling. “Like I told you earlier, I know you pretty well.”

Amy rolled her eyes and laughed, letting Jake in and closing the door behind him.

“So, what happened with that arrest?” Amy asked, recalling Jake’s seemingly sudden epiphany before she left for the night.

“I solved the case. Found the robber,” Jake announced, rather conceitedly. “And, unsurprisingly, I wasn’t wrong in arresting Whitman – he was an accomplice. Guess I didn’t ruin everyone’s weekend.”

Amy stared at Jake, unimpressed.

“Alright,” Jake conceited. “Maybe I wasted everyone’s weekend. But, it all turned out okay.”

Amy shook her head and laughed as she took the box of pizza out of Jake’s hand and walked over to the living room coffee table with it.

Amy sat with Jake as they ate pizza and drank beer. A basketball game played on the TV, as they laughed about stupid perp names they’d arrested, and funny things Jake had done recently.

As they laughed, words Boyle had said during the 48 hours of, basically Hell, replayed in her mind:

_“I think the perfect first date, doesn’t feel like a first date at all because you’ve known each other for a few years, maybe even work together, and then one night you’re laughing, and then all of a sudden it’s like, blammo! Kissing.”_

She’d known Jake for a few years; they worked together. Now here they were, hanging out and laughing.

Amy lunged forward, planting her lips on Jake’s. After a few seconds, Jake pulled back, his mouth wide open and his eyes gigantic circles.

Amy was mortified, immediately regretting her actions. She stood up and backed away from the couch. She began pacing back and forth in front of the door. “Oh. My. God. I’m so sorry. That was so unprofessional. I should not have done that. I’m sorry. That was not okay.”

Jake stood up and met Amy, standing in front of her, blocking her path, putting his hands on her shoulders, preventing her from continuing to pace.

“Ames…” Jake said, looking her right in the eyes. His eyes were kind and warm. Amy began to relax in his arms. “You don’t need to apologize.”

Jake leaned forward, gently placing his lips on hers. Amy kissed him back.

After some time (minutes, hours, days? Amy really wasn’t sure), Jake broke away from the kiss.

“Woah!”

Amy beamed. That was one of, if not the, best kiss of her life. From Jake! The immature, goofy, lazy, crazy, guy who sat across from her at work. Never, in a million years, had she ever thought that she would kiss Jake, let alone enjoy it. She was even more surprised to discover that Jake enjoyed kissing her.

“Now what?” Amy asked.

“Now, I leave. Because that was the best way to end a first date. Then, we go to work tomorrow, act as though nothing happened, while we steal glances at each other, waiting, rather impatiently, for Friday, when we go on our second date.”

Amy’s heart skipped a beat. Never had she ever expected Jake to be so smooth.

“Ok,” she finally whispered.

And with that, Jake turned, heading for the door, turning back and winking before leaving Amy, whose heart fluttered in anticipation of the upcoming weekend.    


	8. Old School

Amy sighed as she reached the last few steps, exiting the stairwell at her apartment’s floor. It had been a tough day. Jake had done something incredibly stupid, as usual, and she had put in way too much effort trying to help him fix it. On top of that, she had done her actual job, solving cases. Between doing her job and babysitting Jake, Amy was utterly exhausted.     

Amy turned the corner, stunned to find Jake sitting on the floor outside her apartment. He looked disheveled, his shirt untucked and his tie, which he wore reluctantly, loosened and thrown over his shoulder, his hair unkempt.

“Jake?”

“Ames, I did something really stupid,” Jake announced, jumping up to look Amy in the eyes.

Amy rolled her eyes. “Yeah I know. You were quite drunk. And, I have the texts to prove it.”

Last night, an extremely drunken Jake had spouted nonsense about their boss, Captain Raymond J. Holt, in attempt to impress his childhood hero, author Jimmy Brogan. In his drunken state, Jake had said many ridiculous and unprofessional things about Captain Holt. Even worse, Brogan, who was writing an article about the NYPD, had believed Jake to be on the record, and was going to print these atrocious claims within the next 24 hours. Amy, furious with Jake in a way she had never experienced before, had tried to help him come up with a plan to take back these lies.

Jake shook his head and waved his hand, shaking off Amy’s current concerns. “No, no, no. I got him to take back everything I said, ‘on the record.’”

“That’s great!” Amy exclaimed, ecstatic that the falsehoods about Holt weren’t going to be published for the entire city to read.

“Well…”

Amy crossed her arms and huffed, knowing that she should have been more skeptical of Jake delivering good news “Now what did you do?”

“Why don’t we go inside and talk?” Jake suggested.

Amy shook her head and rolled her eyes, annoyed with Jake. Captain Holt was the best boss she had ever had. She would never forgive Jake for jeopardizing Holt’s position at the 99th precinct. Amy unlocked the door to her apartment and ushered Jake in.

“Spill,” Amy ordered. She needed to hear the whole story. If Jake was going to cost Holt his job or ridicule his position for the whole city to read, Amy was going to need all the details so that she could help fight to keep Holt at the 99th precinct.

“Well, I appealed to Brogan’s sense of tradition, or, whatever. He was surprisingly understanding and willing to retract everything I said. He said that he understood that I was trying to stay afloat in a hair bag world,” Jake explained.

“Okay, so that’s good,” Amy said hesitantly. She had a feeling that there was more to the story. And, knowing Jake, the rest of the story was not going to bode well for Captain Holt and the 99th Precinct.

Jake took a deep breath before continuing. “I told him that I was being unfair to Holt, that he’s a decent guy and a good Captain…”

Amy stared at Jake, waiting for the rest of the story. When Jake just stood there, staring back at her, she knew she would have to pull out the story from him. “And…”

“He told me I didn’t need to “stand up for that homo.’”

Amy gasped. “No! He. Did. Not. Say. That.”

Jake nodded.

Amy bit her lip, disappointed that she was still living in a society that was judging people based on who they loved, rather than the content of their character.

“So…” Jake continued, “I punched him.”

“Jake!” Amy exclaimed. She didn’t know if she was more surprised or turned on by Jake’s integrity.

Jake nodded. “Yep. Knocked him flat out. They had to drag him out of the pool at the spa.”

“Jake!” Amy exclaimed again, unable to think of anything else to say, she was so shocked.

“What?! Do you think I would just stand by and let some dirtbag make derogatory remarks about the best boss we ever had? Absolutely not. Should I have punched him? Probably not. But, in the moment, it was the only thing I could think of to do. It was the right thing to do, right?”  

Amy looked at Jake with admiration in her eyes. She was pleasantly surprised by what Jake had done to protect their Captain. For once, Jake’s lack of thought before acting had had positive results. Jake had acted admirably. Amy was horrified to realize that she found Jake’s actions sexy. 

“Right?” Jake repeated when Amy didn’t say anything.

Amy remembered that she needed to speak. She nodded. “Yeah, right. Absolutely.”

“I’m not sure that Holt will be so pleased. One of his detectives punching the guy writing a profile on the precinct is not good press for us.”

“I’m sure Holt will be understanding, even flattered, when you tell him why you punched Brogan,” Amy reassured Jake.

“I’m not telling Holt!” Jake protested.

 “Why not?”

“Because…” Jake looked away from Amy. “I shouldn’t have said those horrible things about Holt in the first place. I knew better. I didn’t even believe those things. I messed up and tried to fix things. I wouldn’t have heard Brogan call Holt…that…if I hadn’t been trying to fix my first mistake. All of this is my fault, and I’ll just deal with the consequences.”

“Jake…” Amy walked over to Jake. She took his face in her hands and held it, forcing him to look at her.

Jake shook his head. “It’s fine.”

Amy let go of Jake’s face, but continued to look at him. She leaned forward and kissed Jake’s cheek. “I’m impressed by your actions,” she whispered in his ear before taking a step back.

Jake beamed, his face turning red. He laughed uncomfortably. “And turned on?” he joked.

Amy blushed, staying silent.

Jake looked horrified. “Oh, God. I was just joking. Just a stupid, bad, bad joke.”

In a moment of unusual bravery, Amy admitted that she was, in fact, turned on as she nodded and responded, “Yes, I am.”

And she took another step forward, kissing Jake again, this time on the mouth.

He grabbed at her waist and lifted her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck. Jake carried Amy into her bedroom and laid her down on her bed. He stood at the foot of her bed and looked at her. Jake climbed onto the bed and hovered over Amy.

“You sure you want to do this?”

Amy looked up at Jake and smiled. In all the time that she had known Jake, she had known him to be stubborn, selfish, and immature. Sure, he was fun to be around and could be quite sweet, but, she had never really taken him seriously. His actions tonight, as stupid as they initially seemed, showed how much he had changed in the couple of months that Captain Holt had been at the 99th precinct. She was surprised to believe it, but Amy thought that Jake was changing into the kind of man who she would want to be with.

“Absolutely,” she said.


	9. Sal's Pizza

“Amy, I’m upset about Sal’s.” Jake sighed as he sat on the couch, watching TV, his arm around Amy, whose head was laying on Jake’s shoulder. 

Sal’s was the best pizza place in the city. At least, it was the best according to Jake. Sal’s held a special place in Jake’s heart; it’s where his dad used to take him after his baseball games before he left Jake and his mother when Jake was 7. Jake was shocked when he had gotten the call from Sal – there had been a fire. He ran, right away, ready to help the man, and the place, that continued to be there, long after his father was gone. He was devastated to discover that Sal’s had burned down, along with the nostalgia of summer afternoons, eating pizza and talking baseball with his dad.

“I know babe,” Amy said, turning her head and kissing his neck. She pressed gentle kisses, at first. As she turned her body in closer to Jake’s, her kisses got a little rougher. She bit at his neck as she ran her hand up his chest and into his hair.

As much as he liked Amy, and sexy timez with her, he was not in the mood to be intimate with her right now. All he could think about was how hard it had been to say goodbye to a place that meant so much to him. He softly pushed Amy off of him and stood up. He walked over to the armchair and sat on the arm of it, resting his head on the back.   

“I just can’t believe it’s gone.” Memories of times spent at Sal’s ran through Jake’s mind; afternoons with his dad after little league games, awkward first dates in high school, dinners reconnecting with Gina while they were home from college, celebratory dinner with his mother when he was accepted into the Police Academy, and on and on. Sal’s was a happy place. Sure, it was great to still have the memories, but it hurt to not have the physical place in his life.

It was a bit like the absence of his father. He had the recollections of his dad. Though, it had been so long since he was a stable part of Jake’s life, and he so rarely saw him in the 26 years since he had left, he barely even had any memories of his father and the few that he did were fading.

He didn’t want Sal’s to end up being like his dad.

Jake shared his fear with Amy.   

“Sal’s is not your dad.” Amy walked over to Jake and stroked his hair. Amy knew him so well. She knew that he loved having his hair stroked, especially when he was feeling down. He leaned into her, taking a deep breath, smelling her perfume. “Sal’s going to rebuild. It’ll open back up,”

He thought about what she had just said. Jake had fought to stay on the case to solve the arson. If it had been up to that idiot Fire Marshall, Boone, the fire would have been ruled as intentional and Sal would have been arrested for insurance fraud. But Jake knew Sal, knew that he was incapable of harming his beloved restaurant, in any way. Jake knew the fire was intentional, it just hadn’t been done by Sal. So, Jake pushed, continued to work the case, even though it wasn’t in his jurisdiction. And he was elated that he had. His hunch was right, and he found the arson.  

Maybe that was the key difference between his dad and Sal’s. His dad intentionally hurt his mother by cheating on her. He intentionally hurt Jake by leaving him and never being there for him. But Sal’s? Sal’s could never hurt him. And Sal, would never intentionally hurt anything or anyone.

“It’ll be okay,” Amy reassured him.

And he believed her.

He could always count on Amy to make him feel better.

Jake reached for her waist and pulled her down into his lap. He laughed as they both fell off the arm and onto the seat of the chair. Amy started kissing at Jake’s neck again and he smiled.

“I love you,” he said. 

“I love you too,” she replied. She stopped kissing Jake, pushing herself off him and standing up. She held out her hand to him as she said, “Now, let’s move this to the bedroom.”


	10. Thanksgiving

Jake retrieved a jar of mayo, a bag of nuts, and a spoon from the kitchen and headed into the living room, crashing onto the couch. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, scrolling through the recorded items to the football game. He pressed play, tossing the remote to the seat next to him, still within grasp. As the national anthem played, he opened up the jar of mayo. He dipped the spoon in, pulling out a large spoonful of mayo. He sprinkled some nuts over the mayo. He started moving the spoon towards his mouth when he looked down at it. At this moment, he realized just how disgusting this concoction was. Making a disgusted face, he dropped the spoon back into the jar and placed the jar down on the coffee table. He looked down at himself, wearing his trademark plaid shirt, hoodie, and jeans, and sighed.

For years, this had been his Thanksgiving. When he was seven, his dad left. Gone was the tradition of the turkey, stuffing, potatoes, corn, pumpkin bread, and apple cider. Maybe it was too hard for his mom to handle and that’s why she always took a shift at the diner on Thanksgiving. It wasn’t like they couldn’t use the money. So, he spent Thanksgiving alone, eating mayo nut spoonsies and watching football. It had been a long time since he’d experienced a nice family Thanksgiving. He didn’t need to start celebrating it now.

He picked the jar and spoon back up, shoving it into his mouth. He gagged at how disgusting it was. Jake stood up and ran to the kitchen sink, spitting out the terrible creation. He ran the faucet, placing his mouth underneath, guzzling as much water as he could, washing out the bad taste from his mouth.

Jake sighed again.

This was pathetic.

He thought about what Captain Holt had said: “The beauty of being an adult is that you can make a new family with new traditions.”

Jake had responded that he didn’t have a new family yet, which was true – he didn’t have a wife or kids to make a traditional family. He did, however, have a squad full of people who had his back and protected him and looked out for him and for whom it truly cared about.

He could just picture it – the squad, sitting around the Thanksgiving table like a little family. There was Holt and Jeffords, like two dads watching over the family. Rosa and Amy were like two daughters that Holt and Jeffords looked out for. Himself and Charles? Like the Captain’s sons. There was Gina, a unique member who couldn’t be labelled. And Scully and Hitchcock, strange, though necessary, unidentifiable members of the family.

Maybe the 99 was his make-shift family. Jake tried to picture Thanksgivings of the future. Who did he see sitting around the turkey? The first member of the 99 who popped into his head was Amy.

“You look beautiful,” Amy had said to Holt when he arrived at her apartment earlier. Sure, it was an awkward mistake. But, it was a wonderful, awkward mistake that made Jake feel a little jealous. He wished Amy would tell him that he was beautiful.

Jake ran to his room, straight to the closet. He pushed everything aside, revealing the item that sat in the back, rarely touched, only worn once: his suit. Certainly, this was formal enough for Amy Santiago. Jake pulled the suit out, along with a clean button-down shirt. He rummaged through his dresser for a tie that would go along with the ensemble. He put everything on and looked at himself in the mirror. Beautiful.

Jake raced to the precinct, hoping he wasn’t too late for the festivities. He wanted to show everyone how much they meant to him. Most importantly, he wanted to show Amy Santiago that he respected her wishes for a nice, traditional, formal Thanksgiving dinner.

Jake arrived at the precinct just in time for dinner.

“I’m here, I’m here,” he announced as he entered the conference room. “Finally, something to be thankful for.”

“What are you wearing?” Rosa teased.

“Santiago said to dress up, so…” Jake took the empty seat next to Amy, feeling elated and relieved to discover that this was the seat available.

“Well, you look beautiful,” Amy responded.  Jake smiled, flattered by Santiago’s compliment.

Amy continued, “That’s my thing now, I’m just owning it.”

Amy gave one last smile at Jake before she turned and addressed the rest of the squad. “Okay, before we eat…”

“Nope, not doing that again,” Terry snapped, cutting her off.”

Scully asked, “Can you pass the, uh…”

The Sarge cut him off, clearly affected by his hunger. “You get that hand near me again, you’re gonna lose it,” he threatened.

“Okie-doke,” Jake said. “Let’s eat.”

Everyone went around the table and gave little thanks to the others. Jake stood up and told the others how he thought of them as a family. When he sat back down, Amy grasped his arm. “That was beautiful,” she said.

Jake beamed, ecstatic that Amy had called him beautiful, not once, but twice – first, based upon his appearance, and next, based upon the thanks he had given.

When dinner had finished, and everything had been cleaned up, Jake headed out and on his way back home. He was pleasantly thrilled to be joined by Amy on his ride down in the elevator.

“That was a great night.”

“Yeah,” Jake concurred, nodding and smiling.

Amy pushed the stall button, bringing the elevator to a jerking halt.

She turned to look Jake in the face. “I just wanted to say, it meant a lot to me, you dressing up and giving such a beautiful speech. I know that Thanksgiving is not an easy day for you. But, it’s important to me. And… it really meant a lot to me that you put in effort this evening.”

And with that, she stood on her tip toes and pressed a chaste kiss onto Jake’s lips.

As she stood back down, Jake took a hold of her hands in his. “I’ve always hated Thanksgiving because it reminded me of the destruction of my family. But, Captain Holt gave me some powerful words of wisdom today: I can make my own family. And you, which, of course, I mean the squad, you, are my family.”

Amy smiled. She let go of Jake’s hands and took a step closer to him, so that she was mere centimeters away. Quietly, she said, “If we’re family, and I’m like Holt’s daughter, and you’re like, Holt’s son, does that mean, we’re like, siblings?”

Jake gulped. “No. Absolutely not.”

Amy leaned in even closer. Jake could feel her breath on his face. “Good, because if we were siblings, this would be awkward.”

Amy kissed Jake one more time, causing butterflies to flutter in his stomach.

She turned around and pushed the button once again, returning the elevator to its regular service. The doors opened, and Amy exited. Jake watched her go, bringing his hands to his lips, reveling the presence of her lips on his own, anticipating the moment when they would take residence upon them once again.


	11. Christmas

Jake stood in the evidence room in his police gear; a bullet proof vest strapped over his chest, his gun secured in its holster on his hip. Being a cop, he was no stranger to putting himself at risk. This time was different though. There was some psycho out there who wanted revenge; not against Jake, but against his Captain. Knowing for certain that the suspect wanted to hurt his Captain, made this scenario a lot scarier than any other dangerous position Jake had ever put himself in.

But he wasn’t just scared for himself.

“Jake.”

Jake turned around to look at who had just entered the room.

Amy walked straight to Jake, throwing her arms around his neck, burying her head into his chest. Jake wrapped his arms around Amy, holding onto her tight.

“Be careful,” Amy whispered.

Jake pulled her in tighter.

Jake liked taking risks. Every time he did something slightly dangerous, he felt this rush of adrenaline. It was exciting.

But, for the last few months, he had been dating his partner, Amy (in secret). While he still loved the rush he got from the perils of being a detective, there was a part of him that worried, more for Amy than himself. Now that there was someone important in his life, he actually had to think about the consequences of his recklessness in the face of danger. Even worse, he had to worry about the women he liked very much being in danger. And, he hated it. 

With the threat they had received from a revenge-seeking ex-con, the case tonight was more dangerous than most others. Thus, Jake’s concerns for Amy were greater than ever before.

“You be careful,” Jake said back to her, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“Peralta. Santiago.” Jake heard Diaz calling out for him and Amy. Quickly, he released Amy from his arms.

Rosa popped her head into the evidence room. “Ready?”

Jake nodded.

“Yeah,” Amy responded. “Just going over some last-minute strategy.”

…

The perp was caught. Jake was safe. Even better, Amy was safe. Unfortunately, in a valiant attempt to save Rosa, Charles had been shot in the butt. If there wasn’t a chance that Charles could have been seriously injured, it would have been funny (or funnier – Charles getting shot in the butt was still kind of funny).

The squad stood around Boyle in his hospital room. Boyle, in his characteristic attempts to be sincere, was making a heartfelt speech about how grateful he was to the 99. Jake, who always wanted to find the humor in any situation, took advantage of the chance to make a joke about Boyle’s butt whenever opportunity arose.

“I have to tell you guys something,” Charles announced. “Even though I got shot…”

“In the butt…” Jake interjected. “Sorry.”

Charles continued. “I’d rather be here, spending Christmas with all of you, than on some stupid singles cruise. And I mean that, from the bottom of my…”

“Butt.” Jake just couldn’t help from interrupting. The opportunity was too perfect. “Again, sorry.”

Rosa punched Jake, hard causing him to cry out in pain.

“Shut up Jake,” Rosa instructed, coming to Boyle’s defense. “Boyle’s a hero. And so is his butt.”

There it was! Jake smiled, impressed by Rosa’s ability to continue on with his joke, even while telling him off.

Rosa smiled, something Amy had been trying to get Rosa to do all day (for the sake of the 99’s Christmas card that Amy was hoping to give Holt, in lieu of presents he so adamantly declined). Amy took the opportunity and stole a picture.

“I got it! She smiled,” Amy declared, thrilled with herself. “Christmas card complete.”

Jake smiled at Amy’s dorkiness, remembering all over again what had made him fall for her; her goofiness, her determination, her competitiveness, and her unwillingness to accept defeat.  

Not wanting to draw attention to himself in this embarrassing moment of adoration for his girlfriend (secret girlfriend) he announced one more time, with a laugh “He got shot in the butt.”


	12. Pontiac Bandit

“I did something really mean yesterday,” Amy confessed as she sat down at the table for dinner. Jake was seated at the head of the table, and Amy took the seat next to him on the corner, placing a bowl of pasta down in front of each of them. “I hid from Boyle because he was annoying me.”

“Ames!”

“I know, I know. It’s horrible. He’s a hero, injured in the line of duty, trying to protect a fellow officer. And how do I respond to his slightly inconvenient needs? I get irritated and hide so I don’t have to help him out anymore. Terrible.”

Jake held his chest, he was laughing so hard.

“Why are you laughing at me?” Amy moaned. “I’m a terrible person.”

“Oh, Ames,” Jake said, calming down from his laughing. He started to lift up his left arm and groaned in pain.

Now it was Amy’s turn to laugh.

“Laughing at your boyfriend when he’s experiencing such horrific pain? Your boyfriend who’s trying to push through the pain and pat your arm to make you feel better? You really are mean,” Jake teased.

“Hey!” Amy shouted, still laughing.

Jake smirked and gently kicked Amy under the table.

“I have no sympathy for you. You deserve your pain.”

Jake pretended to frown. “My pain is from doing 2000 pushups. That’s a lot. I think I deserve some sympathy.”

Amy shook her head and smiled. “You had to do 2000 pushups because you got cocky and didn’t trust your partner. Thus, not worthy of sympathy.”

Jake pouted. “I thought I was going to catch my archnemesis – the Pontiac Bandit. I wasn’t really being cocky, just clouded by excitement over being so close to catching the criminal I’ve been chasing for years.”

“That doesn’t mean you stop trusting your partner,” Amy scolded.

Jake looked hurt by Amy’s comments for a second, but then started smiling. “I guess we’re both pretty terrible people. You’re mean to injured cops. I do whatever I want, even when my partner is giving me orders. We deserve each other.”

Amy laughed. “I guess we do deserve each other.”

Jake shrugged. “Who else will put up with us?”

Amy smiled and leaned forward, kissing Jake’s cheek.

“Now, let’s eat,” she said, digging into her pasta, her eyes still on Jake, a smile spread wide across her face.


	13. The Bet

Amy stared in the mirror and frowned. This dress was hideous. It fit her terribly (though, she was sure there was no body type the dress would have looked good on). The straps were placed awkwardly on her shoulders. The dress was too big on her chest, yet too tight across her stomach and waist. The asymmetrical ruffles were preposterous. The obnoxiously gigantic bow on the back hid her best feature; her ass. There was nothing she could even do about it – no jacket, or cardigan, or accessory could make this outfit look good.

Outside a car honked and Amy heard someone calling her name. She rolled her eyes and muttered a prayer, that Jake would change his mind, under her breath before making her way out to meet him. She opened up the front door to Jake yelling, “Date time, time to date!”

She stuck her head out the doorway, hiding the awful, unflattering dress from the world. “Peralta, this outfit is ridiculous.”

“Chop, chop. There’s plenty of embarrassing to do and only a few hours to do it in.”

Cursing the powers that be for not answering her prayer, she took a full step out onto the steps, closing the door behind her. She held up her arms to show off her dress to Jake. “Happy?”

“Yes, very.” He responded. “You look like every girl at every Bat Mitzvah I ever had a crush on. Turn around, let’s see the bow.”

Reluctantly, Amy obeyed, turning around.

Jake laughed. “Just like Jenny Gildenhorn. Why do I wish you had braces? Should we get you braces? No, that’s too much.”

Amy rolled her eyes in annoyance as she listened to Jake argue with himself.

“Here I come,” he announced, running around to meet her on the passenger side of the car.

“Nice shorts,” Amy commented, upon seeing him in a button-down top with a tuxedo jacket and cargo shorts. His ensemble further confirmed her fear that this night was going to be embarrassing and absurd.

“Thank you. Believe it or not, they were not very expensive.”

Amy tilted her head and gave Jake sad eyes. “Do I really have to wear this all night?”

She was hoping that he would see how upset she was and feel bad, changing his mind and allowing her to wear something more flattering and comfortable. She shouldn’t have been surprised when he denied her this wish.

“You know the rules. The date starts now and ends at midnight. I decide what you wear, what you eat, and where we go. Oh! And there is one more rule. No matter what happens, you’re not allowed to fall in love with me.”

“Won’t be a problem,” she assured him. Never, in a million years, would she be in love with Jake Peralta, the immature, selfish, attention-seeking, irresponsible goof that she often had the displeasure of working with. Sure, he was fun to hang out with occasionally, but he wasn’t the kind of guy she would date. He certainly wasn’t the kind of guy she would ever fall in love with.

They drove off to the bar in silence, giving Amy plenty of time to think. She tried to come up with a plan to leave the date early. Maybe she could pretend to get sick. Perhaps she could contrive some sort of wardrobe malfunction. Or maybe she could text her mother, asking her to call her with a fake family emergency.

Amy’s thoughts wandered, and she thought about Jake’s comment about her looking like the girls at the Bat Mitzvahs from when he was growing up. Obviously, he had picked out this dress so that she would look like a 13-year girl. But, was he trying to embarrass her, or recreate an unfulfilled moment from his adolescence? Although Amy wondered about Jake’s true intentions for picking out this specific dress, she decided not to question him about it, figuring she’d rather not know the answer.

They finally arrived at the bar, where Jake made their presence known by playing the siren on his bullhorn. Amy was mortified when Jake started making an announcement on the bullhorn for the whole bar to hear. “Hot date, comin’ through. Hey, attention, everyone! Now, I know that tonight is Boyle’s big night…”

Everyone turned and cheered, giving Boyle the recognition, he deserved for so valiantly putting himself in harms way to protect Rosa from that bullet on Christmas Eve.

Jake continued. “But let’s forget about that completely for a moment, and admire and comment on every terrible aspect of this.”

Giving in for the moment and playing along with Jake as he gestured to her, Amy smiled and put her arms out to show off her dress to the squad. Smiling, she said quietly to Jake, “Permission to go to the bathroom?”

“Granted. First of three, use them wisely.”

Amy shook her head and made a face of disgust before escaping to the bathroom.

She stood in front of the mirror, stalling before she had to go back out into the bar. Maybe she could escape through the bathroom window? No, that would be too mean to just abandon Jake. After all, he had won this bet, fair and square, and she had agreed to the terms.

If she was being honest with herself, she really had not thought that she was going to lose this bet. She was the better detective, she was certain of that. Jake had gotten lucky in breaking the prostitution ring and arresting the last round of felons, pushing him into the lead at the last minute. Well, maybe it wasn’t just solely luck. It was actually a pretty smart move, going after a group of creepy guys like that. Amy was jealous that she hadn’t thought of it.

Maybe, there was more to Jake than she realized.

Amy emerged from the bathroom, dreading the rest of the date a little less.

She returned to dreading it when she saw that Jake had gathered everyone in a circle. She was positive that more embarrassment was on its way.

“Excuse me everyone! Santiago and I will be performing the steerage jig from the film, _Titanic_ , which we have prepared for in no way, shape, or form.”

Amy stared at Jake in disbelief. He was kidding, right? There was no way she was making a spectacle out of herself. The dress was the maximum amount of embarrassment she could handle for the night.   

Jake walked over to her grasping her waist and holding out his other hand for her to take with her own hand. There was no use arguing. She was going to have to participate. Those were the terms of the bet. She grudgingly accepted his hand, placing her other hand on his shoulder. He pulled her onto the dance floor, spinning them around as he jerked them up and down, side to side. He released her waist and grabbed her other hand as he leaned back and shouted, “Do the spinning!”

This was the worst moment of her life. “I hate your guts.”

“Channel that passion into the dance.”

Amy frowned, hoping for the moment to end.

Her wish was granted when Captain Holt called Peralta away. Jake ordered Scully to take over, but Amy refused. It was one thing to make a fool out of herself on the conditions of a bet but, she wasn’t willingly going to continue to do so otherwise.

Jake came back over to Amy. “Darling! Brief pause. Duty calls.”

“Oh, thank God!” Finally, her prayers were answered. She could take off this ridiculous dress at last.

Amy eagerly took hold of Jake’s elbow as he led them out of the bar.

…

Jake and Amy sat in the car watching over the drop off spot the captain had sent them to. 

“So happy to be out of that dress. It was weirdly hot.”

Jake laughed. “Oh, yeah, that’s probably because it was a cotton and plastic blend. But, not to worry, because we’re gonna catch these guys and get back to the worst date of your life.”

Without even having to think about it, Amy responded, “Mmm, no. Nothing will ever be worse than the date I had with my aunt’s dentist.”

Amy then proceeded to tell Jake about her date which ended up turning into a dental checkup – so unromantic and weird. Amy laughed at the memory.

Jake laughed too.

“What was your worst date ever?” she asked him.

“I think it’s like a fifty-way tie. The last lady I went out with burst into tears when I told her I was a Gemini.”

“Wow,” Amy responded. She couldn’t help but think that it wasn’t the dates per se, that were bad for Jake, but the women he was going on these dates with.

“Hey, those people left that door open.” Jake nodded towards the building they were staking out. “I bet there’s a better vantage point from the roof.”

“Hmm. And I bet it doesn’t smell like old cheese,” Amy said, taking a low blow at Jake’s car.

“Okay, that’s hurtful,” Jake said. “Shall we?”

“Yeah,” Amy responded, keen to get out of Jake’s awful car. 

Up on the roof, Amy found two crates. She carried them close to the edge of the roof and placed them down for her and Jake to sit on.

Jake, who was standing higher up on the roof declared, “Man, I don’t know how Batman does it. It is super scary up here.”

Amy laughed at Jake’s confession as he called out, “Hey, will you grab the binoculars? They’re in my stakeout bag.”

Amy rummaged through his bag, searching for his binoculars. “You’re stake out bag is 98% nuts,” she informed him.

“I get snacky,” Jake argued. “Besides, nuts are super healthy. They’re like 0% fat.”

“Jake, that’s not true at all. It’s actually the opposite.”

“What! That nut vendor lied to me?” Jake retorted in mock outrage.

Amy laughed. Jake was a grown man. How could he be so uninformed about the world? If it wasn’t so sad, she might have found his cluelessness endearing.  

Jake held up the binoculars to his eyes. Amy looked closely out onto the street below them, taking in every detail of the area that she could, looking for anything suspicious going on.

“I think a pigeon just flew out of your car,” she informed Jake.  

“Yeah,” Jake responded, not sounding surprised. “The windows don’t exactly roll up.”

Amy took a deep breath, wondering if she should tell Jake what she was thinking, about how awful his car was. Deciding there was nothing to lose by stating her honest opinion, she declared, “The car’s a piece of crap. Why do you love it so much?”

Jake sighed. Amy knew he was about to tell a story.

“You really want to know? I was two days out of the academy, super nervous. I saw this guy run out of a bodega clutching a bunch of cash. So, I pursued him, on foot. Eleven blocks. Finally catch him, cuff him, throw him up against that car. Turned out there was a ‘for sale’ sign in the window. And, it being the best day of my life, I bought it. Thus, began the debt.”

“’Crushing debt,’” Amy corrected him, recalling his words a year ago when they had made the bet.

Jake nodded enthusiastically and smiled as he replied, “Yeah. You do know me.”

She didn’t know why, but she found Jake’s story about his beloved car heartwarming. For a moment, he had been vulnerable with her, admitting to being nervous, an emotion she had never known him to experience. Sure, it was stupid to go into debt over a car, especially one that was such a piece of shit. But, in Jake’s situation, it was pretty sweet.

“Nut?” she asked.

“Only if you throw it,”

“Ready? Ready?” she asked, preparing to toss a nut towards Jake.

“Mmm-hmm,” he hummed.

She threw it and he caught it in his mouth with ease. “Nice.”

Amy held the bag out towards Jake and he took a nut. “Ready?”

“Uh-uh.”

Jake tossed the nut into the air. Amy tried her best, turning her head to the side. Ultimately, she failed to catch it in her mouth. Jake started laughing. “What are you doing? Trying to catch it in your nose?”

Amy laughed too, catching onto Jake’s contagious laughter.

Confident that she could catch a nut in her mouth, she declared, “I got it. I got it. I got it.”

They were interrupted by Jake’s phone ringing. He stood up and walked away as he said, “All right. It’s Holt. Keep practicing.”

Amy took another nut out of the bag, and threw it up into the air, again, failing to catch it. She took one more nut, trying, and failing yet again. Suddenly, she had an idea, she grabbed a handful of nuts and tossed them all in the air. Surely, she was bound to catch one of them. She was quite pleased with herself when she managed to get a nut in her mouth.

“What did Holt want?” Amy asked as Jake rejoined her.

“Just checking in. How you doing? Any progress?”

Amy was excited to show off to Jake her new ability to catch a nut in her mouth. “Yep, watch.”

She tossed her handful of nuts into the air, catching several of them this time.

“The key is volume,” she said, her mouth full.

Jake smirked. “I see that.”

After several more turns of tossing nuts back and forth to each other, Jake said, “So, be honest, if you’d won the bet, were you really gonna destroy my car?”

Amy smiled, thinking back on the week. She had constantly implied that she would cause damage against the car, even pretending to find out how she could light it on fire, hoping that the threat of not just losing the ownership of the car, but that the car would physically be gone, would distract Jake from beating her at the bet. Clearly, her strategy had failed.

Amy shook her head. “No, I was gonna drive it. So, I could learn stick.”

Jake jerked his head towards Amy so fast she was surprised he hadn’t snapped it.

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would,” she teased. “Would have been like…” Amy started making screeching noises, indicating that the she would have intentionally damaged the car in her careless attempts to drive it.

“No, no…” Jake suddenly stopped protesting Amy’s mocking as he grabbed at her arm, calling her attention to the action on the street. “Hey, hey.”

Jake pulled Amy down so that they were both crouching on the ground. Amy peered out over the edge, where she saw a truck backing up to the docking station of the building across the street.

“There’s our guys,” Jake said.

“What’s the play here?”

“Just follow my lead, give me the ring.”

Amy pulled off the $1 ring Jake had given her earlier. When he officially won the bet, he fake-proposed to her, giving her a cheap ring. She hadn’t even thought about what she was doing as she had allowed him to slide it onto her left hand, just like she would have, were a man to do had he actually just proposed to her.

She hadn’t even thought about it as she left the ring on for the rest of the night – as she went home, showered, got ready for the date and joined Jake on his silly night of embarrassment.

She slid the ring off her finger and placed it into Jake’s waiting hand. In this moment, she knew, she was going to trust his lead 100% on this bust.

“Now, give me some nuts,” Jake instructed. “I’m snacky.”

Committed to following his lead, she willfully obeyed.

…

Amy followed Jake down the stairs and out onto the street. Jake turned back and winked at Amy. She gave a thumbs up, indicating that she was on board, ready to play out his plan.

Jake walked several steps in front of Amy and she followed behind him. He took his phone out of his pocket, holding it up as if he was using it. He turned back and shouted, “All right, fine, darling. I’ll ask him. Will that make you happy?”

Turning to the suspect, Jake said, “Excuse me, sir.”

The suspect, looking rather suspicious and guilty, walked towards Jake, his hands up in front of him. “Uh, we’re kinda busy here.”

Amy caught up to Jake, her arms crossed, a scowl upon her face, as she played along with Jake’s plan.

“Yeah,” Jake said. “My girlfriend here thinks we’re lost.”

Playing her part as the annoyed girlfriend, which she found quite easy to portray, she argued, “No. I know we’re lost. I think he’s an idiot.”

“Idiot? You know why we’re out here in the middle of the night, Susan? I was gonna propose to you.”

Amy pretended to gasp in surprise as Jake pulled the ring out from his pocket. Out of the corner of the eye she watched the suspect. He looked concerned about this arguing couple, though eager for them to be gone.

Jake continued. “On the Brooklyn Bridge, where we met.”

“Brooklyn Bridge? We met on the Manhattan Bridge!” It was a little discomforting to Amy that she found playing Jake’s annoyed girlfriend so easy.

“You know what?” Jake yelled, even louder. “This is over. Say goodbye to the ring and everything it represents.”

And with that, Jake chucked the ring.

“Oh! You son of a bitch!”

At this point, another man had joined the suspect, watching the drama unfold between Jake and Amy. It looked like their argument was proving to be convincing enough to call more people to their attention.

“Hey! Hey! Stop yelling!” the suspect yelled, though seemingly just at Amy, as he leaned in closer to her face.

“Hey,” Jake yelled. “No one talks to Susan like that. And you know what…”

And with that, Jake had Amy simultaneously pulled out their guns, holding them to the suspects.

“…On the ground. NYPD!”

“NYPD! You’re under arrest!” Amy yelled, backing up Jake.

The two men lowered themselves to their knees, their hands behind their heads.

“Nice work,” Jake said to Amy.

“You, too.” She turned to him slightly, flattered by his rare compliment of her work.

“I’m sad you’re all arresting me, but I gotta say, I’m glad you’re back together.”

Amy looked at Jake, confused. Was this guy really that stupid? There was no way he really thought that they were an actual couple and that this hadn’t been some ploy to arrest them. Were she and Jake really that convincing as a couple? Amy shivered at the uncomfortable thought that she didn’t mind this criminal believing that she had Jake were a couple.

…

Captain Holt called Amy into his office first thing the next morning.

“Good job on the stake out. I’m glad to see you two still work well together despite that ridiculous bet.”

Amy smiled at the Captain’s praise. “Thanks. Me, too.”

“And, I appreciate you turning down the relief team. I’m not sure they could’ve made that bust.”

Amy was confused, unsure about what the Captain was talking about. What relief team? Suddenly, it dawned on her. That must have been the real reason the Captain had called last night. He wasn’t checking up on them, he was offering another team so that they could get back to their date. By why had Jake refused the relief team? He had been planning this embarrassing date for the past year. Why had he abandoned his plan to continue to humiliate Amy?

“Yeah. Right. The relief team.”

Amy exited the office and walked straight to her desk, taking the seat across from Jake. “So…Sorry you lost so much money last night. Guess you can add it to your list of bad dates.”

“Nah, it still goes on the good date list. You know, cause we caught the bad guys.”

Amy was surprised by Jake’s response. He was already crushing debt and last night’s monetary loses from their failed date had surely sent him further into the red. She thought he would be upset at the fact that so much money had been wasted. But, instead, he claimed that it was a good date.

Jake had voluntarily put himself further in debt, stopping his fervent attempt to embarrass Amy for an entire night, opting instead to spend a casual night talking, laughing and working with her.

“That’s very mature of you,” she said.

“Well, I am a very mature man.”

Amy stood up and briskly walked over to Jake’s side of the desk. She grabbed his hand, pulling him up, and leading him out of the bullpen and down the hallway to the evidence locker. She pushed him inside and closed the door behind them.

“It would have gone on my list of good dates, except there was one detail missing.”

And with that, Amy lunged forward, cupping Jake’s face in her hands, pulling him down to place a kiss on his lips. Jake stood still for a moment, but then grabbed at her waist and started to kiss her back.

“Wow,” Jake said, when Amy finally released his face and stepped back, ending the kiss.

She smiled then turned around to exit the room. She reached the door and opened it up. Before she left, she turned back around and saw Jake standing there, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide from shock. “When you kiss me on our second date, it’ll certainly qualify for the good date list.”


	14. The Ebony Falcon

Amy laid in bed, wide awake. She looked over to the digital clock. It read 12:45. She needed to be at the precinct at 9:00 tomorrow morning, which meant she needed to be up by 7:00 in order to shower, have breakfast, and make it to work on time. If she was going to get the doctor-recommended eight hours, she should have been asleep almost 2 hours ago. If she fell asleep in the next fifteen minutes, then she could get six hours – acceptable, though not great.

Amy turned over, facing away from the clock. The wind picked up, causing the windows to rattle. Amy’s heart started speeding up.

She wasn’t going to get those six hours of sleep.

Accepting defeat, Amy got up and headed into the kitchen. She added water to the kettle, placing it on the back burner and turning the heat on high. As she waited for the water to boil, she grabbed the largest mug she had out of the cabinet and a bag of sleepy time chamomile tea from the basket where she kept her various tea bags. She dropped the tea bag into the mug. The kettle whistled, and she poured the boiling water into the mug, turning off the stove.

The tea was still too hot to drink, so Amy walked around the kitchen, looking for something to eat with it. She opened up her bread box, taking in the delicious scent of rye bread that Gina had baked for her the night before. Amy cut a slice of bread and buttered it. She took her plate of bread and mug of tea into the living room. Amy placed the plate down on the end table and curled up with the mug of tea. She took a deep breath, letting the steam fill her nose. 

All of a sudden, the was a loud bang in the building hallway. Amy jumped, spilling half her mug of tea down the front of her sweatshirt. She heard another bang, closer to her apartment, then a bang on her door. She placed the mug down on the coffee table and ran into her bedroom, trying to get her gun out from the safe in her closet where it was locked up. Her heart beat faster and faster as it sounded like someone was trying to get into her apartment. She stumbled on the lock, messing up the combination as the front door opened up.

“Ames!”

Amy let out a sigh of relief, recognizing the voice of her boyfriend.

“Oh, thank God. It’s you!” she exclaimed as she ran out into the living room and right into his arms. “What was all that noise? It scared me half-to-death.”

“There’s a light out in the hallway and I couldn’t see. I kept walking into the walls,” Jake explained, holding on tight to Amy. “What happened here?”

Amy let go of Jake and shook her head. “Long story.”

“Want to talk about it over a cup of tea?” Jake asked, placing his hands on her shoulders and then comfortingly rubbing her upper arms.

Amy nodded.

“Alright. Just let me get changed.”

Jake headed into the bedroom to change into his pajamas as Amy made two more cups of tea – one for Jake and one to replace the cup that she had spilt. She sliced a piece of bread and buttered it for him as well.

Several minutes later, they met back up in the living room.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked, sitting crisscross on the sofa, facing Amy, the plate of bread balancing on his right knee. He held the cup of tea in his left hand as he used his right hand to shove bread into his mouth.

“What happened to Gina really has me spooked,” Amy confessed, taking comfort in the fact that she felt so calm around Jake, that she could easily tell him anything, share any fears or concerns, be completely vulnerable in front of him. “She was robbed and now I’m scared about being robbed too. And I know, I’m a police detective and trained to handle these kinds of situations, but I still can’t help but to feel nervous with every unusual sound or movement.” 

“I think what you’re feeling is completely reasonable,” Jake assured her. “It doesn’t matter that you’re trained to handle robberies. Someone close to you experienced this terrible event, which has made you realize just how possible it is to be robbed. Your feelings are 100% understandable.”

Amy sipped her tea as Jake talked. She knew she could count on Jake to make her feel better. She scooted closer to Jake so that their knees were now touching.

“I’m feeling a little worried too,” Jake confessed. He finished eating his slice of bread and moved the plate to the coffee table. He held his hand out to Amy and she took it. “This whole thing with the Sarge has me freaked.”

“How so?” Amy asked as she rubbed her thumb on the back of his hand.

 “I’ve just realized how easy it is for us to be injured on the job,” Jake said. “And then what happens? How does that affect our loved ones? I mean, Terry has two adorable little girls. If something happens to him, that’s it, they no longer have a dad. As a kid who was raised without his dad, I know how horrible that can be. How can he continue to put himself in danger?”

Amy sighed. “First of all, Terry has to trust that his squad has his back and is protecting him. Which we do, and we are. Second, maybe that fear is what keeps us staying focused. We aren’t completely reckless when we go into a dangerous situation because we understand that we’re not invincible. We know that there are people who will be affected if we get hurt, or worse, on a case.”

Jake nodded.

Amy finished her tea. She placed the mug down on top of the discarded plate, letting go of Jake’s hand. As she leaned back up, she turned, leaning her back against the back of the sofa.

Jake gulped down the rest of his tea. He placed his mug down on the table, next to Amy’s finished mug and plate. As he leaned back up, he turned, so that he too, was leaning his back against the back of the sofa. The side of his left leg grazed the side of her right leg. Jake lifted his left arm, placing it across the back of the couch. Amy took his left hand and draped it over her shoulder, lacing her fingers through his. She rested her head on his shoulder.

“I love you Jake.” She had never told him that. But, tonight, it felt right. She wasn’t saying it because she was scared. No, she was saying it because of how safe she felt.

“I love you, too,” he replied, placing a kiss to the top of her head.

Amy beamed and snuggled into Jake. It wasn’t long before she drifted off to sleep, comforted and secured by his strong, loving embrace.


	15. Operation Broken Feather

Amy had said that she was interviewing for a position with Major Crimes and Jake had not liked it. He didn’t like it one bit. He proceeded to spend the rest of the day trying to convince Amy that she would miss this job too much. He tried his best to make it fun, dancing with tenants in the building while doing door duty and making up songs to make digging through the trash seem like more fun.

“Why do you care if I leave?” she had asked him.

He made up some excuse about how awful Major Crimes was and how terrible the people who worked there were.

“So, if I transferred somewhere else, you wouldn’t care at all?” Amy asked.

Jake shrugged it off. “No. Of course not. Do whatever you want, you know? It’s your life.”

The truth was though, that he did care. He did not want Amy to leave. They made a great team. Look at what they had done today. He pretended to be an auctioneer, acting as a lookout for Amy to find their suspect. He had been heckled by Adam Sandler and broken Joe Theismann’s other leg. It was a crazy, eventful case, that they had successfully solved. There was no one else he would have wanted to share this experience with.

Jake arrived back at the precinct, feeling angry about Santiago’s betrayal. How could she go work at Major Crimes, with the Vulture? How could she leave this place? How could she leave him?

Jake sat down at his desk as Captain Holt walked over to him.

“Hello Peralta,” Captain Holt greeted.

“A human greeting. Nicely done,” Jake sassed. He was not in the mood to be respectful to his boss right now, he was too angry at Amy.

“Updates on the case,” the captain continued, ignoring Jake’s immature remarks.

“Well, you’re gonna love this one. We busted the guy for grand larceny. And to celebrate, Santiago is taking a job interview at Major Crimes. Can you believe that?”

“Yes. She told me yesterday,” Captain Holt responded.

Jake slammed his hands on his desk. “What? Why didn’t you try to talk her out of it? She would literally shave her head if you asked her to. Which, by the way, is a great idea for a prank, if you’re looking to prank her,” Jake added, not passing up the opportunity to try to pull a prank on Amy.

“Santiago wants to make captain one day,” Holt explained. “I know because I frequently caught her wearing my hat and looking into a mirror.”

Jake imagined Amy sneaking into the Captain’s office and putting on his hat, checking herself out in the mirror, imagining herself in that position. He smiled thinking about how dorky she was. Dorky and ambitious and embarrassing and amazing.

“I support her decision,” Holt continued. “That’s what good detectives do. They have each other’s back, no matter what.”

And with that, Captain Holt looked away. Jake glanced up at the wall, noticing the picture of him and Amy from the day they beat the vulture before he could take away his case. Amy looked crazy, like the demon dog from _Ghostbusters_. Jake smiled, recalling the day. Amy had supported Jake, and if it hadn’t been for her, he would not have beat the Vulture. As much as it pained him, he knew that he needed to show the same support for her.

Damn it.

He huffed as he grabbed onto the desk, pulling himself closer in his chair. He opened up Microsoft word and began to type. 

…

Jake ran into the Major Crime department at One Police Plaza.

“Santiago!” he called out, running to her. “Before you go in there, there’s something I have to say. I’m sorry I said you were a bad partner. I was the bad partner. The truth is, our job isn’t always great. I mean, sometimes it sucks. But, it sucks a little less when I get to do it with you. So, when you said you were gonna leave, I freaked out and that was dumb. I should have been more supportive. You’re a great detective, and they’d be lucky to have you. In fact, if it helps, I wrote you a letter of recommendation. Which is riddled with spelling errors, I might add. Including, the word ‘recommendation.’ Which is just…I don’t have to tell you about that. There’s no way there’s four ‘M’s’ in that word, right?”

Amy smiled and put her hands up, stopping Jake from his rambling. “I already turned down the job.”

“Seriously?” Jake cried, shocked by Amy’s actions. This morning, all she could talk about was how great this job would be for her. How could she possibly give up an opportunity to advance her career?

“In the end, you were right. I don’t want to sit at a desk. And right now, I like where I am.”

“Ah. Uh-huh.” Jake bite his lip.

Amy smirked. “Thanks for thinking I’m great.”

Jake clutched Amy’s head in one hand, her waist in the other, and pulled her into him. He leaned down and kissed her. As her lips moved with his own, he pushed his tongue against her lips, begging for entrance. She opened her mouth slightly, and he pushed his tongue in.

“Mmm…” Amy purred.

After several blissful seconds, or, perhaps, minutes, of passionate kissing, Jake released Amy from his embrace, horrified by his actions. He had forced himself on a woman. And, not just any woman, one he worked with and respected as a colleague.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry, that was so unprofessional. I shouldn’t have done that. I just forced myself on you, just because I was feeling insecure about you leaving…”

“Jake,” Amy interrupted him. “Please, shut up.”

Pulling him back in, Amy kissed Jake, forcefully, yet passionately.

Several minutes later, Amy broke the kiss. “You’re also one of the reasons I turned down the job. I just wasn’t ready to leave you.”

Jake beamed uncontrollably. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Jake held his hand out and Amy took it, lacing her fingers through his. She tucked herself into his side, resting her head against his shoulder as they walked out of Major Crimes department to the elevators. Jake bit his lip and smiled, thinking about how lucky he was.   


	16. The Party

“This is all your fault,” Amy snapped at Jake.

“Me?” Jake responded, exasperated, as he followed Amy out of their Captain’s home. “We wouldn’t have been caught if it hadn’t been for you.”

“It’s not my fault that I sneezed.” Amy turned around to face Jake and threw her arms up.

Jake raised his eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re blaming a dog now?”

Amy rolled her eyes. She took a deep breath and made a fist, relaxing her grip as she exhaled. “I can’t deal with you right now.”

“I can’t deal with you right now,” Jake retorted.

“Enough,” Terry bellowed.

Terry was pissed. And, he had every right to be.   

Not even five minutes ago, Jake had been humiliated as he was, for the first time in his life, thrown out of a party. In a desperate attempt to connect with his Captain’s husband, Kevin, Jake searched all over the Captain’s home for a recent copy of the _New Yorker_. There was an article he wanted to reread (well read thoroughly, as the first time he had read the article, he had been high on laughing gas at the Dentist), so that he could discuss it with Kevin. He had failed to find the magazine anywhere on the first floor, thus he slipped past the sign prohibiting guests from going upstairs and crept into his boss’ bedroom. He was shocked to find Amy, who never did anything wrong, who never broke any rules, snooping through Holt and Kevin’s personal belongings.

Before Jake could even scold Amy for her invasion of privacy, the sound of footsteps and hushed voices approached the room. Jake pushed Amy into the Master Bathroom. Unfortunately, the bathroom was already occupied, by Captain Holt’s dog, Cheddar, to whom, Amy was deathly allergic. Amy had grabbed Jake’s arm, squeezing with all her might in terror. Trying to control the situation, Jake pulled Amy into the corner, far from Cheddar, putting a towel over Amy’s nose and mouth to keep her from breathing in the dog’s fur. His quick-thinking plan was a failure, as Amy started sneezing, giving away their hiding spot, and leading to their expulsion from the party, along with the rest of the squad.

Before the party, Terry had sat the whole squad down and instructed them on the proper way to behave at the party. Once there, Terry had pulled everyone aside to remind them about appropriate behavior. Terry was fairly adamant that the squad must be on their best behavior and represent their squad well. Right now, he had to be pretty furious that everyone behaved so poorly.

“You both were doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing,” Terry reprimanded. He was standing in front of Jake and Amy, the rest of the squad behind him. “You were disrespectful, out-of-line, and immature. And I am so disappointed in you.”

Jake bit his lip, ashamed by his behavior.

“Sorry,” Amy said, quietly, looking down at the ground.

“Yeah, I’m sorry too,” Jake added.

“Good,” Terry said, calming down and relaxing his tone. “Now, you can think of a way to make it up to Captain Holt.”

“Of course, absolutely, we will,” Amy assured the Sergeant.

“Yeah, of course,” Jake repeated.

“Great. Good night.”

And with that, Terry and the squad left, leaving Jake standing alone on the street with Amy.         

“So…” Amy started.

Jake looked at her. Her eyes were red and puffy. Jake grimaced. “Ames, you’re not looking too great.”

“Geez, thanks,” Amy responded, offended by Jake’s comment. She turned on her heel and started to walk away, quickly.

Jake ran after her. “Sorry, I meant your allergies seem to be bothering you badly. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Amy stopped walking and turned to look at Jake. She nodded. “I could really use an antihistamine to help with the puffy eyes and the runny nose.”

“Got it,” Jake said. He held out is elbow, offering it to Amy to hold onto. She took ahold of his elbow and allowed him to lead her down the sidewalk. “I think there’s a drugstore a couple blocks up. Can you make it there? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Amy replied.

The two walked in silence, finally reaching the drugstore. Amy walked straight to the allergy aisle and picked out her usual allergy medication. Jake grabbed a water from the fridge and he paid for both items for Amy. They exited the store and took a seat on the curb, Amy taking her medicine once she was seated.

“Better?” Jake asked.

“Much. Thanks.” Amy leaned close to Jake and nudged his shoulder. “I’m sorry I blamed you for us getting kicked out of the party. It obviously was my fault.”

“It’s fine,” Jake said, shrugging it off. “It’s usually a pretty safe bet to assume that, if something has gone wrong, it was my fault. I’m just sorry I led you into the bathroom with the dog you’re deathly allergic to.”

“Please! You didn’t know the dog was in there. You wouldn’t have brought us in there if you had known Cheddar was there. I know you aren’t that cruel.”

Amy wrapped her arms around Jake’s arm and rested her head on his shoulder. His heart beat sped up, enjoying the physical contact with Amy. He smiled and rested his head on top of hers.

After several minutes of silence, Jake asked, “Are you feeling better?”

Amy lifted her head off of Jake’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes, still holding onto his arm. She nodded.

Jake nodded, mirroring Amy. “Ready to head home?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

Amy let go of Jake’s arm and stood up. She turned to him and held her hand out, offering to help him up. He took her hand, and she pulled him up next to her.

Jake held his hand out, hailing a cab. A green cab pulled up and Jake opened up the door, letting Amy in. He followed in behind her. The two gave their addresses to the driver, then sat in silence as the cab drove through Brooklyn. As they sat in the backseat, Amy reached her hand over to Jake, grabbing his hand, interlocking his fingers through her own. Jake looked at her, confused about what was going on between them, though enjoying it. Amy shrugged, almost as if to say, _Why not?_ Half an hour ago they had been bickering, and now he was feeling butterflies at the physical contact between them.

They reached Amy’s apartment first and Jake exited the cab, allowing Amy to exit on the sidewalk, and not into the traffic on her side.

“Well, goodnight,” Jake said, as he started to reenter the cab.

“Stop,” Amy exclaimed, grabbing Jake’s hand and pulling him towards her, and then slamming the door. She knocked on the driver’s window and handed him cash. “We’re only going to need the one stop. Thanks.”

“Ames…?” Jake was very confused. What was Amy doing? Not that he was complaining. He enjoyed Amy’s company and found her attractive. And, being so close to her tonight was giving him butterflies. He just never, in a million years, expected that she was feeling something similar towards him.

Amy shrugged. “I thought we could have a nightcap.”

Jake held Amy’s hand and allowed her to lead him to her building and up to her apartment. They reached Amy’s apartment and she dropped his hand to let them in. Once inside, Jake started to speak. “So, should we grab a couple glasses of…”

Amy interrupted him by smashing her lips onto his. Jake was surprised by her forcefulness. He stood there, frozen, for a moment. After a few seconds of surprise though, he reciprocated the kiss.

Amy led them to her bedroom, stumbling as she discarded her clothes and his along the way. By the time they reached her bedroom, both were in just their underwear. Jake’s back was to the bed, and Amy gave him a gentle shove, pushing him down onto the bed.

As Jake lay on the bed, Amy straddled him and crawled forward. Once she reached his waist, she took the waistband of his boxer briefs and lowered them, removing his underwear completely. She looked at his dick, already erect, and took it in her hand, stroking him up and down. Jake sat up as Amy continued to stroke him, and he reached around her back, undoing her bra, and tossing it to the floor. Jake kissed Amy’s lips, and then her cheek. He moved his lips down her body, kissing her neck and her shoulders and her chest and her breasts. He lowered his hands to her waist and pushed her underwear down. She stopped stroking him and crawled off of him, and stood at the foot of the bed. She took off her underwear as Jake scooted closer to the edge of the bed. Amy straddled him, once again, though, instead of rubbing her hand on his dick, she lowered herself onto him. Jake held her lower back and thrust into Amy, slowly at first. Eager to come, Amy thrust herself faster on top of Jake, and he too increased his speed. As they fell into a rhythm, Amy used one hand to rub her clit. They slide their hands up and down each other, pressing kisses to each other’s skin and gently biting. Jake came as Amy continued to thrust, and it wasn’t too long before she orgasmed.

Amy collapsed, pushing Jake down into the bed, her head resting on his chest, his dick still inside her. Their chest moved up and down in tandem, rapidly, as they tried to regain their breaths.

“That was…”

“….wonderful,” Amy finished Jake’s thought.

“Absolutely amazing,” Jake added, as he stroked Amy’s hair. She reached up to stroke his hair, her other hand crawling to find his. Once she touched his hand, she laced her fingers through his.

They lay quietly for several minutes, neither saying anything, each one just enjoying each other’s company. Finally, Jake broke the silence.

“Even though we’re constantly bickering, I really enjoy your company. I like how smart you are, and how ambitious you are, and how you are so eager to impress your boss, even if that means invading his privacy.”

Amy laughed. “And, despite our bickering, I like you too. I like that you’re good at solving cases, and that you’re compassionate, and that you are willing to do ridiculous things, like snoop through your boss’s things, just to find a way to connect to someone who is important to the people that are important to you.”

Jake smiled, touched by Amy’s kind words towards him. After hearing her compliment, it made him wonder though. If she liked these things about him, and he liked so many things about him, why did they constantly argue? And so, he asked her.

“Why do you think we always bicker?”

Amy stopped stroking his hair. She unlaced her fingers from his, and pushed herself up, crawling off of Jake. She turned to sit next to him, taking the sheet in her hand to cover herself up as she leaned against the headboard. Jake sat up too, resting his head next to hers.

“Probably so that we don’t have to address the sexual tension between us. It’s easier to fight than to admit that there’s an attraction between us.”

“Well now what?” Jake asked. “How do we go on from here? We just slept together. Is that it? We took care of the sexual tension and now we can move forward from here?”

“What do you mean move forward?” Amy questioned.

“Just be friends, friends who get along, who don’t argue. Friends who pretend they haven’t seen each other naked,” Jake explained. Jake hoped that this wasn’t what Amy wanted. Now that he knew what it was like to be with her, he wanted to do it again, and again, and again, for the rest of his life.

“Well, where’s the fun in that?”

Jake laughed, grateful for her response. “So, what do you want?”

“I want to do this again,” Amy responded truthfully.

“Me too,” Jake admitted.

Jake turned to look Amy in the eyes, and she turned too. Jake leaned forward and kissed her. The kiss intensified, and Jake broke away to tell Amy, “I want to do this every day of my life.”


	17. Full Boyle

When Charles Boyle meets a new woman, he has a tendency to fall hard and fast. He makes plans for the future, acts intensely, and often scares the woman away. Jake refers to this behavior as “Full Boyle.”

Charles met Vivian at Captain Holt’s birthday party, and without fail, he was going “Full Boyle” yet again.

Jake sat in the bullpen with Charles, trying his best to help Charles from falling back into his creepy ways. Vivian seemed like a good match for Charles, and the last thing Jake wanted was for his best friend to scare away yet another woman. He wanted his best friend to be happy. Thus, Jake found himself giving Charles advice on his relationship.

“Are you really qualified to give romantic advice? You’re not exactly the king of mature relationships,” Amy said, walking over to Jake and Charles.

Amy had a point. Jake had never had a long-term, successful relationship. But, just because he had never committed to a healthy relationship, that didn’t mean that he didn’t know what to do. “Fair enough. But, I would argue that I am like a beautiful angel of love, who has trouble finding love for himself. Admit that you would see that movie.”

“I would.” Amy smiled at Jake and he returned the smile.

“Thank you for your honesty,” Jake stated, thrilled by Amy’s approval of his romantic comedy suggestion. However, now was not the moment to get hung up on whether or not Amy liked him and his ideas. “But, this is not about me. It’s about Charles. I’ve seen this before buddy, and it’s bad.”

“Jake, I’m nowhere near full Boyle,” Charles insisted.

Jake didn’t believe it. “Then prove it. Just push your anniversary dinner one night. Say ‘Vivian, tomorrow doesn’t work for me. Can we reschedule?’”

“If this will convince you, I’m more than happy. No problem.” Charles picked up the phone, dialing Vivian’s number.

“Great.”

“Voicemail,” Charles stated, holding the phone to his ear.

“Yeah.” Jake nodded.

“God, I love how she says the words ‘You’ve reached…’ Hi Vivi. It’s Chucklebunny…”

“Oof,” Jake and Amy said in unison. This was not going to go well.

“I’m just calling about dinner tomorrow…I can’t wait to see you, my luscious little breakfast quiche. I just want to draw a bubble bath and spoon-feed you caviar. I think we should open a joint checking account. I love you. What am I doing?”

“It’s okay. I hung up right after ‘Chucklebunny,’” Jake assured Charles.

“Help me, I’ve gone ‘Full Boyle.’”

In order to help Charles out, Jake agreed to go on a double date with Charles, Vivian and Vivian’s friend. Jake had not expected for Vivian’s friend, Bernice, to be such an amazing woman, a woman whom he could actually date, a woman who wasn’t his partner, Amy Santiago. Bernice loved _Die Hard_ , was a fan on the Brooklyn Nets, and aspired to be a sports journalist. She was a much better match for him than Amy. In his attempt to impress this woman he was instantly attracted to, Jake’s defenses were down, and he had a hard time helping Charles stay calm and relaxed on the date.

Charles was starting to go “Full Boyle.” Jake convinced him to leave, give him time to calm down, think about his actions.

Jake was horrified to see Charles return moments later, an engagement ring in his hand. After a ridiculous pepper spray fight, Jake got Charles to step back, think about his actions, and wait to propose.

What Jake had failed to recognize though, was that Vivian was going “Full Boyle” for Boyle. She was head over heels in love with Charles. She wasn’t scared away by Charles’s speed in moving things forward because she was moving at the same speed. Perhaps, when it’s right, there’s no wrong way to approach a relationship.

Thus, Jake helped Charles plan his proposal to Vivian. He and Amy watched through the two-way mirror in the interrogation room as Charles proposed.      

“Aw. Charles is engaged,” Amy expressed joyously. “You handled this really well, Peralta. I take back what I said about you being immature.” Jake was flattered by Amy’s comment. It really meant a lot to him that she saw him as responsible.

“Oh. Apology accepted, fart monster.” He liked that she saw him as mature, it didn’t mean he had to continue to be a mature adult.

Amy laughed.

Jake and Amy continued to watch as Charles and Vivian celebrated their engagement. Things were getting intense as Charles and Vivian were making out and pulling each other’s clothes off.

“Okay. Oh, okay,” Amy stammered, surprised by Charles and Vivian’s quickness.

“Oh boy. Man, this is turning into a live sex show,” Jake uttered as Charles and Vivian were now up against the mirror. 

“Yeah, let’s go,” Amy ordered.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t saying it in a bad way…” Jake tried to explain.

“Jake.” Amy grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room.

“Yep…” Somehow though, he managed to get away, sneaking back into the room. “Though, they can’t see us….”

“Jake!” Amy hollered.

“Yep!” followed Amy’s order and exited the room with her. They walked down the hall a little bit and then stopped. Jake leaned his back against the wall. “So, have you ever gone ‘Full Boyle’ over someone?”

Amy shook her head as she leaned on her side next to Jake on the wall. “No, I don’t think so. How about you?”

“Nope,” Jake replied. He pondered a little more, crossing his arms across his chest. “At least not yet. Maybe, though, if I meet the right woman, then I might be unable to help myself from going ‘Full Boyle.’”

“So, not with Bernice?” Jake gave her a confused look, unsure why she would suggest that, or even how she knew about Bernice. Amy shrugged, “Boyle told me about her. She seems like your prefect woman.”

Jake bit his bottom lip and shook his head. “Nope, not with Bernice. On paper she seems like the perfect woman for me, but she certainly isn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Sure, we have a lot in common, but really, where’s the fun in that? I want to be with a woman who introduces me to new things, who challenges me. Not someone who’s basically a female version of me,” Jake described.   

Amy shifted a little closer to Jake. “Where are you going to find a woman like that?”

Jake turned so that he was looking at Amy, face-to-face. “I’m starting to think she’s a lot closer than I thought.”

Amy took a step closer to Jake. “And I’m starting to think that there’s a guy I could go ‘Full Boyle’ for,” she whispered. And with that, Amy leaned forward and kissed Jake on the lips.  


	18. The Apartment

Amy woke up to music playing. She was feeling confused because the song that was playing, “22” by Taylor Swift, was not the song she used to wake up in the morning (her song was “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay). She stirred and opened her eyes. She was surprised to see her boyfriend, a man who was known to not set an alarm, to sleep until the last minute possible, getting up and out of bed. Even more surprising, he was getting up early on his day off (true, they were supposed to be at the precinct for their evaluations, but not until later in the day).

“Jake…” she murmured.

“Shh, babe, go back to sleep,” he whispered, leaning across the bed and kissing her on the top of her head.

But, she was too intrigued now to go back to sleep. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, sitting up and leaning her head on her headboard. “What are you doing awake so early on your day off?”

“I’ve got things to do,” Jake said.

“That’s vague. What kind of things do you have to do?” Amy asked, wondering what Jake could possibly have to do today at the crack of dawn, and why he hadn’t let her know.

Jake sighed before sitting back down on the bed. “I didn’t want to have to tell you this, but I’m at risk of losing my apartment. They want to go co-op, which means I’ll have to buy it. And, as you know, I don’t have the money to afford it. I can’t get a loan – they actually laughed me out of the bank when I tried. I really don’t know what to do.”

Amy’s heart sank. She knew how much Jake loved his apartment. His Nana had left it to him and the apartment was sentimental and full of memories. “Jake…”

Jake cut her off before she could finish her thought. “Please, please, please, don’t offer to try to help. I don’t want you to offer to give me money or suggest that we move in together. Either proposition would just be because you’re trying to be nice. But, this relationship is too new for something so serious.”

Amy reached out and cupped Jake’s cheek. “Surely, there must be something I can do.”

Jake shook his head furiously. “Absolutely not.” He turned his head and pressed a kiss into her palm.

“What’s your plan?” Amy asked.

“I’m going to ask Holt for a loan: $20,000.”

Amy stared at Jake, not sure if he was being serious or not. There was no way their boss was going to loan Jake that kind of money. It would be inappropriate for Jake to ask, and certainly inappropriate for Holt to oblige.

“I know it’s a long shot, but I’m running out of options.”

“Good luck,” Amy replied, knowing full well that Jake was not going to get that money from Captain Holt.  

…

Amy was not surprised when she got a text from Jake a couple hours later that read: _No go on the loan from Holt, working things out with Gina._

Hours later, she received another text from Jake: _Looks like I have to move, looking at places with Gina for the rest of the afternoon_.

…

Amy had little time to worry about Jake; her own evaluation with Captain Holt had gone terribly. Clearly, her response to the question, “What is your biggest flaw?” was not what the Captain had been looking for. She had given those cliché responses that turned good characteristics into flaws (caring too much? Who was she kidding? Caring too much was never anyone’s biggest flaw.).

But what was her biggest flaw? She brainstormed, composed a list, presented it to Captain Holt. Still though, he was not impressed. All she wanted to do was please her Captain, and here she was failing.

This was stressing her out. 

…

Jake rushed into the break room, heading straight to the couch and sighing.

“Woah. Are you okay?” Amy asked, concerned about Jake’s desperation. Worrying was rather uncharacteristic of Jake.

Jake took a seat on the couch. “Yep, just checking out my new bedroom.” He patted the cushions of the couch hard, checking for softness before lying down stiffly. “Oh, good. It feels like scoliosis and smells like ten million butts.”

“I can tell your apartment thing didn’t work out,” Amy stated, feeling worried about Jake’s impending state of homelessness. She desperately wanted to ask Jake to just move in with her. Sure, this desire was motivated more in her not wanting to see Jake upset more than actually being ready to move in together. She thought her asking would cause more stress for Jake, though, and thus decided against asking.

Jake sat back up and threw his arms up in defeat. “When did everyone decide to become an adult? I mean, I know you were born in your 50s, but come on.”

Amy wasn’t sure if she should take what he was saying as a compliment or an insult. “Thanks?” 

“Get this…” Jake continued, falling back into the couch. “Gina just offered to buy Nana’s apartment as a real estate opportunity and become my landlady.” As he spoke, Jake stood up, beginning to pace.

“Jake…” Honestly, Amy thought it was a pretty great offer. He would still get to live at the place he loved, that was so full of wonderful memories, and he would have a friend helping him out.

Amy hated to see Jake like this. Of course, she knew he was terrible with his finances, crushing debt and all, but she still hated to see him suffering because of his lack of funds.

He kept on going, talking fast, as he was to do when he was nervous or eager about something. “I know she was just trying to help. But we’ve known each other since we were kids, you know? I got her, her job, which an ice cream cone could do, by the way. And now I find out she’s been saving all these years?”

“Jake.” Amy knew he didn’t really mean what he was saying. He was just embarrassed that his friend, a friend who he used to look out for growing up, was now doing better than him. Gina had made smart financial moves and he hadn’t. He was now facing the repercussions of his actions, and he was taking it out against someone he was jealous of.

“I know. The person that I’m really mad at is myself for screwing this whole thing up. I got to talk to Gina. Thanks for your help, Amy.”

“Didn’t say anything. Don’t want credit in case it goes wrong.” While she agreed with the conclusion he arrived at, she knew there was still a possibility that he was going to say something wrong. The last thing she needed was for Gina to be even meaner to her for something stupid Jake had said.

“Yeah, that’s smart, given my track record.”

“Hey, wait.” Amy whipped around in her seat. Maybe Jake could help her out with her problem with Holt. “What would you say Holt thinks my biggest flaw is?”

“Who cares what Holt thinks? What’s most important is what I think your biggest flaw is. And there are so many to choose from. Too competitive, prone to jealousy, bit of a killjoy, your shame cigarettes.”

“Oh, my God.” She thought she had thrown that list out. Where did Jake get it? Why was he reciting it back to her? This felt meaner than his usual playful teasing. 

“But, your biggest flaw is…” Jake reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “You suck at throwing away your secret lists.” Jake threw the paper at Amy and she caught it, her mouth still hanging open in anger and shock.

…

“So, I’m switching apartments with Gina. She deserves the nicer apartment, she’s been smarter with her finances than I have. I’ll live in her tiny, little, cramped, starter apartment. It definitely won’t fit all my stuff. I guess I’ll have to think of something else to do with my six massage chairs,” Jake explained as he sulked, making sad puppy eyes. If he was trying to make Amy feel bad for him, it wasn’t going to work.

“Sell them.”

Jake feigned betrayal, clutching at his chest over his heart and gasping.

Amy gave Jake a no-nonsense look. He quickly changed his face, dropping the sad eyes, now looking ashamed. “I know, I know. You’re right.”

There was still a pit in Amy’s stomach. She desperately wanted for Jake to be happy. “Are you sure…?”

Jake cut her off. “Yes, I’m not going to move in with you. But, thanks for offering.”

Amy smiled at Jake and he smiled back, holding her hand and stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. “I thought you would say that. Which is why, I got you this…” Amy walked into the kitchen and opened up a drawer, pulling something out. She walked back to Jake and handed him a key. “It’s a key to my apartment, to let you know that my place is available whenever you need to leave your tiny apartment.”

“How did you know I was going to end up in Gina’s tiny apartment?” Jake asked.

Amy shrugged. “Well, I didn’t. But, I figured you were going to end up somewhere kind of awful. And, even though we’re not ready to live together full time, I wanted you to know that you’re welcome here whenever you want.”

“Thanks,” Jake said, pulling Amy into a big hug.

“Thank you to you too,” Amy replied. She pulled away from Jake so that she could look him in the eyes. “Thanks for helping me out with Holt. You made me realize that I care too much about what he thinks of me. Actually, I care too much about what most people think of me. Even you. Which is part of why I decided to give you a key to my apartment. You might think it’s too early to live together, but I think we’re ready to take another small step in our relationship. And I don’t care what you think.”

Jake laughed, impressed by Amy’s boldness. “Happy I could be of help.”

Amy leaned back into Jake, resting her head on his chest as he tightened his grip around her. She smiled, thinking about how satisfied she was with her relationship.  


	19. Tactile Village

Jake sat in the booth at Shaw’s, not in the mood to hang out with the rest of the squad. He’d been having fun with Amy, just like they did all the time. But then she had run into that guy she once dated, Teddy. He didn’t know why, but it really bothered him seeing her with another guy. Right now, she was on a date with Teddy and Jake was annoyed. But why? Maybe Charles was on to something. Maybe he did have more than just platonic feelings for Amy.

Charles slid into the booth across from Jake. “What’s going on?”

Jake couldn’t help but speak his mind, even if it meant admitting to something he’d been trying to deny for months. “What do you think Amy sees in Teddy?”

“So, you do like her,” Charles commented, looking a little too smug for Jake’s liking.

“I’m just curious,” Jake stated. “I mean, I guess he’s okay-looking and he’s a good cop and they’re both kind of dorky about police stuff. Also, he set the course record, but that’s nothing. I broke it like twenty minutes later.”

Charles leaned in closer. “You want to know why she went out with him and not you?”

Jake nodded. “Yeah.”

Charles continued. “Because he actually asked her out.”

Of course. It was something so simple. Amy hadn’t picked Teddy over Jake; she didn’t know he was an option because he’d never made that clear.

…

“Night everyone,” Amy said, the next night as she put on her coat to leave the precinct.

“Hey, Amy!” Jake called out, rushing over to catch up to her before she got in the elevator, a trophy in his hand.

“Hmm?” 

“Check it out,” he exclaimed, holding up the trophy and pointing to it.

Amy looked proud, which made Jake feel good. “No way! You won coolest kill?”

“Not even close. It turns out anyone can buy themselves a children’s karate trophy,” he explained.

“Smart,” Amy commented.

“Yeah.” Jake took a deep breath, readying himself to take a leap of faith and ask Amy something that could forever change their relationship. “Hey, before you go, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Of course.”

Feeling nervous, Jake crossed his arms. “I was just wondering…Do you want to go on a date with me?”

 “Ummm…” Amy looked surprised.

Immediately Jake regretted his question. Clearly, she did not want to go out with him. Now that he took a better look at her, he could see she was wearing lipstick. She was probably on her way out to meet Teddy for a second date. “Oh, God. I’m so sorry. Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Amy shook her head. “No, no. I want to go out with you, it’s just, I was supposed to go get drinks with Teddy.”

Jake felt disappointed as Amy confirmed his assumption. “Oh, yeah. Well, then, maybe another night.”

“Or…” Amy touched Jake’s arm gently. “I could call Teddy and cancel.”

Jake beamed, his heart racing. “Yeah, okay, awesome.”

Jake waited as Amy called Teddy to cancel their date. She walked back into the bullpen, smiling.

“Ready to go?”

Amy nodded.

Jake walked beside Amy to the elevator. He waited for her to enter the elevator, and then he followed her in. They rode down to the ground level in silence. Once the doors opened, again, Jake allowed Amy to exit before him and he followed her out.

“Where to?” Amy asked as they exited the building and headed out to the parking lot.

“Umm,” Jake shrugged. He had no clue where he was taking Amy. Perhaps he hadn’t really expected her to say yes.

Amy laughed. “I know a place. I’ll drive.”

Jake followed Amy to her car. He got in on the passenger side and settled into his seat. They drove in silence, Jake looking out the window with no idea of where Amy was taking him. Top 40 music played over the radio. As a Taylor Swift song came on, Jake started singing along quietly. After the first verse, Amy joined in. Jake looked over at Amy and saw her smiling. He started singing louder, and she did too. Jake laughed as the song finished playing.

“We’re here,” Amy said, pulling in to a free spot next to the sidewalk, in front of a fairly familiar looking restaurant.

“This place looks familiar,” Jake stated.  

Amy nodded. “Well, this is the place where I was on a date when you so rudely interrupted, trying to ruin the date.”

“Ah, yes,” Jake nodded, remembering the night fondly. While on a date of his own, Jake had spotted Amy out on a date at the same restaurant. He ignored his own date to call Amy and harass her. His date abandoned him, but it was worth it to tease Amy.

“I’m determined to have a good date here, and I think that tonight just might be the night for that to happen.”

Jake looked at Amy, a huge smile spread wide across his face. This was really happening. After months of denial, he’d admitted to himself that he liked Amy as more than just a friend, and certainly more than just a colleague. He asked her out and she had said yes, and now they were going on their first date. It all happened so fast, but it felt so right.

Jake opened the restaurant door for Amy and motioned for her to enter before him. He followed her in, waited for her to talk to the hostess, and then followed her and the hostess to their table.

“So, how have your cases been going?” Amy asked.

Jake talked about what he was working on and listened to Amy talk about her own cases. The conversation was easy as they stayed on the topic of work. Drinks came, and then their food, and they continued to talk about work.

“So, tell me something I don’t know about you,” Amy suggested as the waiter cleared away their plates.

“Like what?” Jake asked, his mind blanking on anything to share with Amy.

Amy shrugged. “I don’t know.” She stared at Jake, intently, yet fondly. “Who was your first kiss?”

“Gina. We were fifteen and drinking vodka and Gatorade one summer night. We started talking about how neither one of us had ever kissed anyone, and then decided that we both just had to get it over with. So, we kissed. Full on made out. It was terrible, and we never spoke of it again,” Jake described. “Yours?”

“Kylie. We both were late bloomers so, by sixteen, when we were both afraid that if we didn’t kiss anyone soon we’d be bad at it, we decided to practice on each other. We practiced on each other at least once a week until I had my first boyfriend, several months later,” Amy explained.

“Both our first kisses were with our best friends!” Jake exclaimed, excitedly.

“Cool. How about your best kiss?” Amy asked.

“Jeremy Hart. We dated for about a year and a half in college and he was an extremely talented kisser,” Jake elaborated. “How about yours?”

“Steve Cabot – a boy I played spin the bottle with senior year of high school. He was on the wrestling team and a total player. But, boy, could that boy kiss…” Amy reminisced.

The conversation went on, talking about ex boyfriends and girlfriends and old flames. They shared stories about their best relationships, worst dates, and the ones that got away (or at least, the ones they thought had gotten away, until now). They talked as they shared dessert, crème brûlée. The check came, and the rest of the patrons left, and yet, they continued to sit and talk.

“I’m so sorry, but, we’re closing, and, we’re going to need you to leave,” a waitress said to them.

“Yeah, yeah, of course.” Jake stood up and waited for Amy to stand up too. Once she stood up, he held out his hand, and she took it. Jake led Amy out of the restaurant and back to her car.

“You good to drive?” he asked.

Amy shook her head. “Not really?”

“Yeah, me neither,” Jake stated. “Cab?”

Amy nodded, and Jake held his hand out, hailing a cab. A taxi pulled up and Jake opened up the door, allowing Amy to enter. He started to close the door for her, but she put her hand out, stopping the door from closing. “Get in,” she ordered him.

A huge smiled spread across Jake’s face as he slid into the backseat with her. “Yeah, sure, of course. No doubt, no doubt, no doubt.”

Amy gave the driver her address as she reached out to grab Jake’s hand, pulling him closer to her. They were sitting side-by-side, their legs grazing each other, their fingers interlocked. Jake’s palms were sweating, and his heart was racing. Here he was in the back of a cab with Amy, on his way to her place. Amy started kissing Jake’s neck and he gulped, enjoying her scent and the feel of her lips on him. He turned slightly, and she pressed more kisses up his neck and his chin until their lips met. They kissed, roughly and passionately. It was better than Jake had ever imagined kissing Amy would be (not that he imagined kissing her often).

The cab pulled up in front of Amy’s apartment building. Jake paid the driver and helped Amy out of the car. She grabbed his hand and pulled him to the building, running up the stairs to her apartment. As she rummaged through her bag for her keys and unlocked the door, Jake stood behind her, holding her around the waist, nibbling at her ear, while Amy giggled.

“It’s really hard to get the door open when you’re doing that,” Amy said.

Jake laughed and apologized but didn’t stop.

Finally, Amy got the door open. She wrapped her arms over Jake’s on her waist and walked forward, bringing him with her into the apartment. Once inside, she turned around, slamming the front door shut, and resuming kissing Jake. She pulled at Jake’s shirt and he quickly removed it. Making things even, he removed her shirt too, pulling it up over her head. He reached around her and unhooked her bra, throwing it to the side.

They groped at each other and kissed as they walked further into the living room, falling onto the couch, Jake laying on top of Amy. He shuffled down to her waist, unzipping her pants. He pulled her pants down, along with her underwear. Jake slowly went down on Amy, taking his time, trying to make her feel good. He was encouraged by the moans and hums she was making.

“Yes, yes,” Amy called out. “Oh, Jake! Yes!”  

Amy grabbed Jake’s arms and pulled him up. She cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss. As they continued to kiss, Amy reached down to unzip Jake’s pants. He helped her out, pushing his pants and underwear down. Gradually, Jake lowered himself into Amy, slowly thrusting. She moved her hips along with him. Their thrusts sped up, their breathing became heavier, their moaning became louder.

“Yes! Jake, yes!” Amy called out, yet again.

Jake collapsed onto Amy, resting his head on her chest, trying to steady his breath. He smiled as he felt Amy’s fingers massaging his head as she played with his hair. Jake ran his hands up and down Amy’s side.

“That was amazing,” Jake said, elated over the act that had just transpired between him and Amy.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Amy stated.

Jake pushed himself up, so he could get a better look at Amy. What did she just say? “What!?” he exclaimed.

Amy turned red. “I’ve had a crush on you for ages,” she confessed.

“Oh shit. Me too.”

Amy laughed, and Jake joined in with her laughter. “So, we’ve both liked each other and haven’t done anything about it?” Amy said.

“Nope…”

“Well, I’m glad we finally did something about it,” Amy said.

“Yeah, me too,” said Jake, resting his head on Amy, nuzzling in to her, closing his eyes as he thought about how great this night had turned out to be.


	20. Fancy Brudgom

Amy sat on the couch in the living room, the TV on (a _Friends_ marathon was playing), a wide array of unhealthy foods spread out across the coffee table - a gigantic bowl of popcorn, a large pepperoni pizza, a bag of mini milky way bars, a bag of Cheetos, and a box of twinkies. She had been doing a diet with Terry and had finally quit. She knew that diets were stupid and ineffective – as soon as you ended them, you would just gain the weight back because you’d gorge yourself on all the food you missed. And here she was, about to stuff herself full of all the foods she so desperately craved while she had been on her diet.

She was debating if she wanted to order a dozen cookies from Insomnia Cookies when she heard a knock at the door. She stood up and made her way across the living room to the front door. She opened it up without checking through the peephole to see who it was. She was not surprised when she opened up the door and found herself face-to-face with Jake.

“Sup,” he said, walking past her, placing a six pack of beer on the coffee table and then falling onto the couch.

Amy closed the door and made her way back to the living room, falling onto the couch beside Jake.

“What’s all this?” Jake asked, gesturing to the food on the table.

“Well, I quit that stupid diet I was doing with Gina and Terry and now I’m craving a bunch of really unhealthy foods. I couldn’t decide on one thing, so here we have this completely unnecessary spread of junk food,” Amy explained.

“Alright, alright. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.” Jake leaned forward and picked up a slice of pizza.

Amy slid off the couch so that she could sit on the floor, closer to the food. She dug her hand into the bowl of popcorn and pulled out a large handful, which she shoved into her mouth. When she finished with that handful, she reached for a handful of Cheetos, again, shoving them into her mouth.

“Wow, you’re really hungry,” Jake expressed as he slid down onto the floor with Amy. He took two beers out of the case and used the bottle opener on his keys to open them. He handed one bottle to Amy. Jake clinked his bottle to hers and said, “Cheers! Here’s to never dieting again.”

“That’s right,” Amy confirmed.

Jake threw his arm around Amy’s shoulders and pulled her in closer to him. She nuzzled into his neck. “Hmm,” she hummed. “You smell like whiskey and cigars.”

“That’s because I just came from having them with Charles. Finally, I got to do something the Best Man is supposed to do. Except, of course it’s Charles so it has to be weird – the whiskey was spicy and disgusting.”

“How’s Charles doing?” Amy asked. Charles was engaged to a woman who was seemingly perfect for him. Vivian was just as passionate about strange, unique foods as Charles was and they had bonded over this love. However, she wanted to move to Canada. For Charles, that would mean retiring from the force and giving up something that he was passionate about.

“Not so well,” Jake said. “They argued for a long time. And, they still didn’t come up with any solutions. I feel bad for him.”

“Well maybe it’s not meant to be then,” Amy expressed. “If Vivian really loved him, she wouldn’t ask him to give up his passion for her.”

“Well, if Charles really loved her, wouldn’t he be willing to give up everything for her?” Jake debated. “Of course, I don’t agree with her, and I certainly don’t want Charles to leave. But, I just think that if you really loved someone, there’d be no question about giving up everything so that you could stay with them.”

Amy thought about what Jake had said. He made an interesting point. If you really loved someone, would you be able to give up everything for them? She thought about what she would do if Jake asked her to give up her life-long dream of becoming a captain in the NYPD to move to a small town far way. Would she be able to do it?

Yes. For Jake, she would be able to give it up. Because she wouldn’t be giving up a dream, she’d just be going after a different dream.

“Just so you know,” Jake started, “I could do it. I could give up being a detective if you asked me to. I’d do anything for you.”

“And I’d do anything for you,” Amy replied. Then she cupped his face and pulled him into a long, passionate kiss.   


	21. Unsolvable

Jake had done it, he had solved the unsolvable case. Eight years ago, he and Terry had worked on a murder case. They had worked and worked it and never solved it. But, Jake had needed a distraction, so he dusted off the case and put all his effort into solving it. And he had! He found the real murderer. Turns out, the guy they thought was murdered, actually murdered the guy they thought was the murder (confusing? Yes. But, that made the solve even more satisfying).

The squad was celebrating Jake’s solve at Shaw’s. Jake stood near the bar, a beer in his hand, as Amy walked up to him.

“Jake! Nice job on the case. Great solve.”

“Thanks. Aren’t you supposed to be in the Berkshires?” Jake was confused. Only yesterday morning, Amy had told Jake that she was off for a weekend getaway with her boyfriend, Teddy. Hearing the news that Amy and her boyfriend were at the stage in their relationship where they were going on trips together was what had prompted him to work the case. He was supposed to have the weekend off, but he needed a distraction, so he didn’t spend the rest of the weekend imagining Amy and Teddy together. Thus, he had chosen to solve the unsolvable case.

“I had a dental thing,” Amy confessed.

“But you’re such a good brusher,” Jake commented, finding it hard to believe that Amy, the overzealous perfectionist, would have anything wrong with her teeth.

“I know! Turns out that was my undoing.”

“Classic,” Jake remarked, thinking how ironic it was that Amy had caused serious problems for herself, in her eagerness to prevent any problem from arising. Honestly, Amy was the only person he knew who that could happen to. 

“Yeah,” Amy replied as a man came up to her, standing closely beside her. “Hey, you remember Teddy.”

“Oh yeah. Hey, man. How are you?” Jake responded, feigning interest as he spoke to Teddy, the bane of Jake’s existence. It was Teddy that Amy had chosen over Jake just a few weeks ago, after the Tactile Village. Jake was only too aware that, if he had spoken up sooner, it could have been him that Amy was spending the weekend with, not Teddy.

“Great Solve! Can I buy you a pilsner? They have some awesome pilsners here,” Teddy offered. Jake found Teddy’s interest to be too enthusiastic.

“Teddy’s really into pilsners,” Amy explained on her boyfriend’s behalf.

“Cool!” Jake remarked, pretending to be interested, solely for the benefit of Amy.

“Attention! Everyone, raise your glasses to the amazing Jake Peralta,” Terry called out, bringing attention to Jake. “Today, he did the impossible. He closed Case 52ABX-32QJ.”

“Speech! Speech! Speech!” called out Charles, a little too enthusiastically for Jake’s liking.

“Look, the real hero here is the murderer. Because without him there wouldn’t be a case. So, here’s to Nate Dexter, the murderer.” Jake gave his short speech, and then walked away, no longer wanting any attention on him. He slumped into a chair at a table in the corner. It wasn’t long before Terry joined him.

“What’s going on with you?” Terry asked. “For the past two days, you’ve been telling me how amazing it was going to be to solve this case. This does not look amazing.”

“I don’t know man. I thought I’d be more psyched, too. Maybe I just need a cooler case.” Jake knew he was bullshitting Terry. He honestly didn’t want to – he admired Terry too much to be dishonest with him. However, he just didn’t think that he could honestly admit to Terry what was really bothering him.

Amy and Teddy. For years, since she started at the 99, Jake had enjoyed working with Amy. She was funny and smart and a great person. In the last few months though, Jake found himself desiring more from his relationship with Amy. At first, he couldn’t really explain what it was. He found himself enjoying spending one-on-one time with her. Perhaps, at first, he hadn’t even realized that what he was feeling for Amy was romantic. Now that he recognized his feelings for what they were, he was having trouble dealing with his unrequited feelings. Thus, he threw himself into work to avoid his feelings.

“No, that is not going to work,” Terry stated, knowing Jake all too well. He knew it was something bigger that was bothering Jake. “You set the precinct record, you weren’t happy. You solved an unsolvable case, you weren’t happy. No case is going to make you happy. Something’s bothering you. And whatever it is, you’ve got to deal with it.”

“Yeah. Well, maybe I can’t deal with it right now, or you know, whatever.” Without intending to, Jake glanced in Amy’s direction, heartbreak written all over his face.

“Ooh. That’s a tough one,” Terry empathized, now understanding the reason behind Jake’s actions lately.

“Yeah.”

“But solving more cases isn’t going to make you feel any better.” Terry explained. “Having a drink with a friend might though.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think another drink is going to help.” Jake paused. What he really needed, was a night to get drunk and forget his troubles. “I think having a lot more drinks might help.”

“Ah! There he is.” Terry tapped his glass to Jake’s before they both took a long chug from their glasses. He put down his glass and said, “So…Amy, huh?”

“We’re gonna need some shots,” Jake said, standing up to head to the bar, not wanting to talk about his stupid crush.

…

After several more beers and perhaps a few too many shots later, Jake was feeling quite drunk. He didn’t even care that he was making a fool out of himself as he joined Terry and Charles in singing _What a Man_.

Feeling ready to go home, Jake grabbed his coat, said “Good-night,” to Terry and Charles, and stumbled out the door.

“Jake!” he heard someone calling to him.

Jake turned to his right and saw Amy approaching him, causing the widest, goofiest grin to appear across his face.

“Sup,” he said, biting his lip to stop from smiling and nodding, trying to act cool.

Amy laughed. “You’re a little drunk, aren’t you?”

“Nope,” Jake denied, shaking his head furiously. “I’m very drunk.”

“Yes, I can see that,” Amy laughed. “Maybe we should get you home.”

Jake shook his head again. “No, thanks. I don’t need help from Tim, or whatever his name is.”  

Amy rolled her eyes as she grabbed Jake’s arm and pulled him to the curb, her hand held out, trying to hail a cab. “You know his name is Teddy. And he’s not here. He went home. I stayed back to make sure everyone else got home safely.”

A cab pulled up in front of them. Amy opened the door and shoved Jake in. She slid in after him, as she gave the driver Jake’s address

“No one else has left to go home,” Jake said, after several minutes of uncomfortable silence.

“What?”

“No one else has left the bar,” Jake restated. He turned to look at Amy, who was shrugging her shoulders.

“And…?”

“And…yet you’re helping me and not anyone else,” Jake whispered.

“Yeah, well, you looked like you could really use the help getting home.”

Jake sighed loudly, at a loss of words. He didn’t know what to say to Amy. He couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why she was helping him out. She claimed that she wanted to make sure that everyone got home safely, yet he was the only one she was making sure got home. Yes, perhaps he had drank far more than anyone else, though that wasn’t an excuse to disregard the safety of the rest of the squad.

They continued onto his building in silence, the only sound Alex Trebek’s voice reading _Jeopardy_ clues on the cab’s TV.

Eventually, the cab pulled up in front of his building and Amy got out, pulling Jake out along with her. She leaned back into the cab and slid her credit car through the keypad as Jake stumbled towards the building. Now, trying to walk after sitting in the cab for so long, Jake was really feeling the effect of the alcohol.

Amy rushed to his side, putting her arm around his waist and helping him to stand up. She led him to his apartment and pulled the keys out of his pocket. Once inside his apartment, she helped him take off his jacket and shirts before laying him down in his bed and throwing a blanket over him.

“I love you,” Jake muttered as he watched Amy place a cup of water on his nightstand.

“Go to sleep,” was the last thing her heard as he drifted off to sleep, feeling her hand stroking his hair.

…

Jake woke and sat up, his head pounding. He groaned as he reached for the glass of water on his nightstand, chugging it.

There was something nagging him about last night; something embarrassing he did in his drunken state, though he couldn’t put his finger on it. It was still dark in his apartment and he squinted his eyes as he scanned the room. He was surprised to see a figure huddled under a large quilt on the couch. He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think who it could be.

He hung out a lot with Terry the night before, but this figure was too small to be Terry. Charles was the kind of friend to take care of a drunken Jake, but the appearance of a pair of heels next to the couch eliminated Charles from the list of possible people on the couch. There was no way in Hell that Rosa, would ever take care of Jake by doing anything more than shoving him in a cab and sending him on his way. There was the possibility that it was Gina. This did used to be her apartment after all and she might have forgotten and shown up after a night of drinking. However, when Jake squinted a little harder, he saw black hair spilling out over the couch’s pillows.

With a sudden sensation of regret, Jake realized that the mysterious figure on his couch was Amy. Amy had so graciously taken care of him last night, gotten him home safely, and he, in his drunken stupor, confessed his love to her.   

Stupid, stupid, stupid. Jake hit himself on the forehead, which only made his head pound harder.

“Ugh,” he groaned loudly.

All of a sudden, a feeling of nausea overcame Jake. He sprung out of bed and raced to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. He slumped down on the floor next to the toilet, though he knew he wasn’t actually going to throw up.

“Jake, are you alright?” Amy asked, knocking on the bathroom door.

Jake gulped. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Do you need anything?”

“Nah, I’m all good,” Jake responded, though he most certainly was not good. He was panicking. How was he going to face Amy after telling her that he loved her? He had no right to do that. She wasn’t even available.

“Well, let me come in,” she demanded.

Jake stood up, leaping to the door, opening it up before Amy could. “No, no, I’m all good. See?”

“Are you sure? You were pretty drunk last night. Do you need something to eat? Maybe some coffee or Gatorade? Do you need some ibuprofen?” Amy was talking very fast. Clearly, she was uncomfortable about the confession Jake had made last night.

“Ames, stop,” Jake said, stopping her from rambling on. “As far as the hangover goes, I’ll be fine. I’ve had plenty of hangovers in my lifetime, I can handle it on my own. But, in regard to what I said to you last night, I’m really sorry. I was very drunk and didn’t even mean it. You have a boyfriend and we should just forget I said it.”

Jake stared at Amy who stared back at him, not saying anything.

“Right, forgotten,” Jake said, accepting her silence as acknowledgement that she was going to forget what he said to her. He pushed past her and walked to the nightstand, picking up his glass of water and taking another gulp.

“I don’t want to forget it,” Amy declared.

Jake put the glass back down and turned around to look at Amy.

“I don’t want to forget it,” she repeated.

“I…But…I…” Jake stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Amy continued. “I like you Jake. I do. I like you a lot. I have for a while. And, I know you were drunk last night, and you might say that your drunkenness was the only reason you said what you did. But I know that that wouldn’t be true. You like me too. And we would be good together. Just look at how well we do solving cases together. How different is a working relationship from a romantic relationship? So, I don’t want to forget what you said. I want it to be the catalyst for the start of our romantic relationship.”

Jake stared at Amy, his jaw hanging open in disbelief.

“Jake…” Amy urged on.

Jake stepped forward, closing the gap between him and Amy. He took her face in his hands and placed his lips on hers, kissing her fiercely. Amy kissed him back, matching his passion.

Jake let go of Amy and took a step back.

“Wow!” Amy announced.  

“Wow,” Jake stated, repeating Amy’s response. His excitement was shattered with the reminder of a certain someone though. “Teddy!?!”

“What about him?” Amy asked.

“You’re dating him. He’s your boyfriend. You’re cheating on him. With me! I’m a mistress,” Jake exclaimed.

Amy rolled her eyes and shook her head as she playfully shoved Jake. “We broke up. Last night. That’s why I was at the bar by myself and available to take you home. We had a huge fight. Basically, because I wouldn’t shut up about you and how amazing it was that you solved the unsolvable case. He thought I had feelings for you and when I didn’t deny it, he broke up with me. Which is what I should have done weeks ago. I wasn’t being fair to him. There was someone else I liked.”

Jake started laughing.

“What!?” Amy cried.   

Jake took Amy’s face in his hands once again. “I like you so much.”

And then he kissed her, smiling, knowing that he would be kissing, and only her, for the rest of his life.


	22. Charges and Specs

Jake exited the precinct, carrying a box that held all of his work possessions. He scanned the parking lot, spotting Amy who was about to get into her car. He called out, “Amy?” as he ran up to meet her. “Hey. I thought I missed you.”

“Hey, Jake.” Amy responded, turning around to face him, a huge smile spread across her face. “Amazing assignment. I have to admit I’m a little jealous.”

Jake smiled back at Amy. “Really?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she confirmed.

“Well, if you want, I can help you get fired. I’m really good at it,” Jake joked. He had just put on a show for the Commissioner and then the precinct, pretending to be disrespectful enough to be fired. And his act was pretty convincing, if he did say so himself. He wouldn’t mind giving some pointers to Amy to help her get fake fired along with him. Honestly, it would be great to go undercover with a friend. It would be even better if that friend could be Amy.

Not knowing what else to say, Jake said, “Yeah,” pretty lamely.

“This is real. This is happening.” Amy tilted her head and looked at Jake with sweet, caring eyes. As she gave him this look, Jake knew, it was now or never; he had to tell her how he felt.

“Look, umm…” he started, laughing nervously. “I don’t wanna be a jerk. I know you’re dating Teddy and it’s going really well. It’s just…” Jake paused, taking a deep breath, preparing himself to open his heart.

“What’s going on?” Amy asked, concerned by Jake’s suddenly serious demeanor.

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen on this assignment. And, if something bad goes down, I think I’d be pissed at myself if I didn’t say this. I kinda wish something could happen between us, romantic stylez. And I know it can’t, because you’re with Teddy and I’m going undercover. And, that’s just how it is. But…”

Jake let the sentence drift off as he watched Amy’s reaction. She stared at him, her mouth open in shock, not saying anything at all. They stood in silence, the only sound was police chatter coming in over various radios.

Jake could have stood there all day, taking in Amy’s beauty. But he couldn’t stick around. He had an assignment he had to go to, and thus, unfortunately, he had to be on his way.

“Anyway. We’re not supposed to have any contact. So. I should go. America needs me. Bye.”

And with that, Jake walked away, proud that he had shared his feelings, but regretting that he couldn’t wait longer for Amy’s reaction.

…

Once in his apartment, Jake grabbed a bag out of his closet and shoved clothes inside, not even paying attention to what he was grabbing. If he was missing stuff, he could always buy it. He went into the bathroom, grabbing his toothbrush, deodorant, and other toiletries, tossing them into the bag too. He needed to be in his new apartment, the one where no one in the precinct would be able to find him, thus keeping everyone safe, in an hour.

He was surprised to hear a loud banging on the apartment door, for he was supposed to be cut off from communication with everyone the moment he stepped off the precinct property. He was even more surprised to open the door and find Amy standing there.

“Ames…”

“Fuck you, Jake!” she shouted, pushing past him into his apartment. Jake closed the door and turned, ready to take more of Amy’s yelling. “How can you say that and then just leave? You didn’t even wait for me to respond. You tell me you want to be with me, and then walk away, knowing you won’t see me again, for God knows how long? What the fuck kind of person does that?”

“I’m sorry. I know, that wasn’t okay,” Jake apologized, taking a step closer to Amy, his arms held out, offering to take her up in his arms.

Amy stepped back, further away from Jake, out of his reach.

She stood there staring at him, until tears rolled down her cheek. “Damn it,” she whispered, wiping away the tears.

Slowly and hesitantly, Jake took another step closer to Amy. This time, she didn’t move away. Jake dared to take another step, and another, until they were just inches apart. He stopped, waiting for Amy to do something. Finally, she took a step towards him, falling into his arms. Jake held her tight, not wanting to ever let go. He was comforted by the pressure of her arms around him, holding him just as tightly. They stood there, neither one of them saying anything, just holding each other.

Eventually, it was time for Jake to head out, time for his new mission to start.

“Ames,” he whispered, half-heartedly. “I have to go.”

Amy released Jake from her embrace. He looked longingly into her eyes before turning to walk away.

“Wait!” Amy exclaimed, as she grabbed Jake’s arm and pulled him back to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, kissing him forcefully on the lips.

It was a kiss unlike any other that Jake had ever experienced. No one had ever kissed him with as much passion as Amy was kissing him right now. This was a kiss he’d remembered all his life.

Amy broke away from the kiss but kept her arms around Jake’s neck. She looked him in the eyes as she said softly, “Come back to me.”

Jake touched his forehead to Amy’s. “Of course,” he replied. 

He kissed her forehead and then walked away, the foreseeable future a mystery to him, though, now, with the knowledge that he had something to come home to.     


	23. Undercover

Six months.

Six months undercover. Six months pretending to be a dirty ex-cop. Six months hanging out with some of the most despicable people in New York City. Six months without the Nine-Nine. Six months without his friends. Six months with no contact with Amy Santiago.

Six months with no Amy Santiago was the hardest part of his undercover gig. Sure, he had to do some horrible things, hang out with some horrible people, pretend to be someone he wasn’t. But he was able to get through all of that because he knew it was all for the mission, the type of mission he had looked forward to since before he ever even joined the force. However, before he left, he had laid his heart on the line with Amy Santiago. He told her that he liked her, that he wanted to be with her romantic stylez.

He’d left before she had the chance to reply. And, for six months, all he could think about was Amy Santiago (obviously, when his thoughts weren’t about the undercover operation). His thoughts weren’t solely about what her response to his confession would have been or will be once he returned. He truly missed her. He missed teasing her. He missed her rolling her eyes at his stupidity. He missed solving cases with her. And, above all else, he missed his friendship with her.

Jake was excited to finally be back at the Nine-Nine. He was flattered to see the whole squad waiting to greet him. He enjoyed hearing what had happened in his absence (according to Rosa, there were only three things of importance that happened while he was gone). And, in typical Holt fashion, so as not to waste everyone’s time, he was given just 12 seconds to tell everyone all about his six months undercover. Jake was just happy to be back with his people.

The group dispersed, and Jake walked straight to Amy. “Hey, so, we didn’t get a chance to say ‘hi!’”

“Hi!” Amy said.

“Hi!” Jake replied back. His heart was racing, his palms were sweating, he was so nervous. “Can we talk in private for a sec?”

Amy nodded, and Jake led her into the evidence locker. He let her in in front of him, then closed the door to give them privacy. He turned to look at Amy, seeing that she looked just as nervous as he was feeling.  

“Okay, so, now that we are alone, I have to ask…” Jake paused. He wasn’t ready to talk to Amy about his feelings. He had to say something to break the tension. “Did you arrest a perp named Joe Uterus?”

Amy sighed and smiled, “Oh, my God, yes. I should have told you immediately. Perp Name Hall of Fame, right?”

“Oh, yeah. First ballot. I mean, that’s right up there with Sylvester Stools and Janet Storkmuncher.”

Jake and Amy laughed. Things immediately were back to normal between the two of them. They were laughing and having fun. Nevertheless, Jake needed to know where he stood with Amy after telling her how he felt and then leaving for six months. He took a deep breath, ready to talk about his feelings.

“Uh, but, also, I just… I know we left things kinda weird. You know, me saying that I liked you…”

“I broke up with Teddy,” Amy blurted out.

Jake couldn’t help but start to smile. He bit his lip to stop himself. Just because she had broken up with Teddy, didn’t mean that she wanted to be with him.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said to me. About how you wanted something – romantic stylez. And…I want to be with you. Romantic stylez.”

Jake beamed. This was all he wanted.

He took a step closer to Amy. “Ames…”

Amy leaped forward, throwing her arms around Jake’s neck, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist. She buried her face into his neck as he held onto her, feeling the sweet sensation of her lips on him as he felt her pressing kisses into his neck.

“I’m so grateful that you came back safe, in one piece. I missed you so much,” Amy confessed, in between kisses.

“I missed you too. More than I can express,” Jake replied, sighing at the weight of Amy in his arms, the pressure of her lips on his neck.

Amy leaned back, her face no longer buried in Jake’s neck, but now looking him in the eyes.

“Don’t ever leave me like that again,” she whispered, the expression on her face serious.

“I won’t, I promise,” Jake whispered back.

Amy released herself from Jake’s embrace, taking her arms from around his neck, jumping down to the floor. She straightened her shirt and took a deep breath.

“I’m going back out to the bullpen, and you will too. We’ll go through the rest of the day, pretending as though nothing happened in here. And then we’ll go home, and you’ll pick me up at 7:00, to take me on a proper date,” Amy informed Jake. He was so taken aback by her forwardness, all he could do was nod.

Amy started making her way to the door but then she froze. She slowly turned back around and walked to Jake. She pressed a chaste kiss to his check and said, “Welcome back,” before turning back around and leaving him alone in the evidence locker.

Jake beamed, ecstatic that, for once in his life, things worked out the way he wanted them to.


End file.
